


Dark Turtles AU

by Lamker



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Angst, Blood, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Some Humor, Violence, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-08-22 02:50:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 33,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8269852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lamker/pseuds/Lamker
Summary: If your whole life has been a lie, how does one tell the truth from the lie? And what can make someone double take on everything they've ever know – friends, family, even their own past… and doubt every second of it? That happens, when you fight your ally, because you never saw the enemy next to you.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, this is an AU 'What if' story Mesacat13 (on Tumblr) came up and I asked if I could write. She said yes and here we are...  
> If you want to know more, keep reading and/or go on Tumblr and ask her yourself. She does some really amazing art of this =)
> 
> None of the things here belong to me - the idea is Mesa's - and I'm the writer. We'll be your supply of angst, suffering, some brotherly love and lots of sadness for... however long this takes. Enjoy =)

 

_**Chapter 1** _

They stood still, back to back to back to back, waiting, and taking in their surroundings. The room was silent, not even the breathing of the many people there hearable. It's only natural – they were all ninjas. The darkness was broken only by the moon's ray through the windows, landing in a circle around the four figures in the middle of the room. Well, four turtles to be exact, but it's not like it matters. With their eyes closed, they each took a small, silent breath and gripped their weapons tighter.

The shadows around moved quietly and quickly, almost with fear. And rightfully so. The four figures in the light might not look it, but they were the very best of ninjas here. And although they weren't human, they were highly respected and acknowledged among their peers and others who serve the clan.

Someone moved. The one with the staff – his eyes opened. Already, he scanned the dark area was forming a plan. His dark brown eyes danced from one corner to the next, catching every movement.

Next, the one with the dual katana. He slowly opened his blue eyes, his head going from left to right. He was assessing the danger, waiting like a predator to find a weak spot in the enemy's formation.

Then the third – the one with the twin sai. He growled, scaring any nearby shadows to move away. He looked ready to shred through anyone. He cracked his neck, giving a very threatening vibe towards the opponents around.

And finally, the fourth moved, holding his nunchakus with his hands and under his arms with a smirk on his lips and a glint in his eyes. If the third one scared the shadows, this one terrified them. He seemed more excited to fight than any of the others.

"How much longer do we need to wait?" the fourth one, smallest of them, asked, clearly impatient.

"Until the Master gives the word," the katana user answered back with some authority, his voice low and cold as he focused, like a leader would.

"Fearless Leader's right on this one – we don't need a repeat of last time…" the growling one grumbled. He was easily the most muscular of the four, yet seemed rather small.

"He's right you know… Besides, I found all of them…" the bo staff user shrugged, tallest and most skinny of them, a grin on his face as he pointed into the corner of the room.

"I counted twelve – three for each of us."

"Twelve against four? C'mon, that ain't fair. Don't they know they need to do better?"

"Yeah bro, I agree. Three just ain't good enough."

"Guys, focus… He's watching."

The four turned stone serious, getting back into the previous mood. Silence ruled over the room again, as four pairs of eyes flickered towards a figure standing on a balcony above the room, arms crossed over his chest and his cold eyes staring back. The moonlight reflected off his silver armor, weapons and even his helmet, giving him an even more menacing look.

"Begin," the man's voice was gruff and empty, almost cold; as all hell seemed to break lose.

* * *

The first one to get into a fight was the smallest one. He charged in, swinging his weapons around and knocking out one of his trio before the ninja had time to react. The other two jumped away to get some distance, but that did little to stop the nunchaku wielding ninja. With a grin, the little one extended the chain between wooden sticks and swung it towards one of the two, managing to chain him up. With some effort, he hurled the chained target into a wall, effectively knocking him out. Turning to the last one, he twirled the chain in the air, taunting his opponent. Seconds later, the last opponent was slammed to the ground, chained up and knocked out.

"And then there was one…"

On the far left side, there was a roar of anger and a distinct crash as someone went flying straight through the wooden wall of the room. The sai user bore his teeth, narrowing his eyes on the two ninjas. They each took a step back in fear, but managed to stand their ground and look the wild ninja in the eyes. Big mistake. In a moment, the muscular ninja charged forward, his speed much greater than the duos, and knocked them to the ground. He knocked one out with the blunt of his sai, while pinning the third one's arms to the ground with his weapons.

"Strike three… your out."

The tallest of the four jumped in the air to avoid the katana aimed for his legs, and smacked his staff into the attackers head, knocking him to the side. Landing neatly on the ground, he delivered another smack to the stomach, just to make sure. The other two charged forward, their weapons stabbing and slashing at him, yet the bo user evaded all of that. He moved away until he felt his shell against the wall and frowned slightly. The next attack, coming from a dagger, was blocked by his staff, while he used his long legs to kick the other ninja into the chest, sending him flying. The last one swung the katana at his head, but the taller ninja raised his bo and blocked again. Giving a grin, he simply lifted the staff quickly and let it hit directly into the opponent's jewels, making him drop to the ground in pain.

"You really should get some protection for that."

The leader locked blades with two of the three attackers, gritting his teeth in concentration. There were sparks flying in the air as metal met metal. Letting out a small growl, the turtle pushed at the locked blades, managing to free his weapon. As the two staggered a bit from the sudden push, he jumped into the air and used on leg for each of the two, and kicked them away. Landing perfectly on the ground, the leader slowly stood up and turned his attention to the last one, his eyes narrow. Without a sound, the last enemy ran forward, katana at the ready, before being blocked by two swords. As his blades locked once more, the shorter ninja used one of his legs to swipe at the other man's, managing to get him off balance. In the moment of weakness, the dual katana user moved like the wind, knocking his opponent to the ground and crossing his weapons around his neck, pinning him down.

"Well fought, but not good enough."

Silence was in the air again, accompanied by pants and groans from the beaten ninjas. The four quickly moved away from their locations and went under to the balcony, sitting down in front of the metal man with bowed heads.

"Michelangelo," the Master's voice echoed in the room and the said turtle winced at the tone. It didn't sound happy…

"You are quick and agile, yet play with your opponents too much. Give no quarter, no matter what," the smallest of the four bowed his head, eyes closed.

"Raphael," the sai user swallowed as he looked up. "Your aggression and strength might help you in most situations, but you do not think too far ahead. Never, under any circumstance, leave yourself weaponless," the said turtle bit his cheek and looked at the side.

"Donatello," the tallest of them blinked at the Master, hints of fear present. "Your deduction and perspective abilities serve you well, yet you allow the enemy to push you too far before you act. Use your instincts more if the situation comes," the bo user nodded solemnly.

"Leonardo," the leader looked up sharply, at attention. "Your skill with the blade is almost unrivaled, yet you forget you are in open combat. Always pay attention to your surroundings and do not let the enemy surprise you," the katana wielder gave a bow of his head.

"…Despite the mistakes you made today, this exercise was your best so far," the four beamed at the praise given, even if it wasn't much. "As such, I deem you ready to venture out into the city now. Naturally, you will be accompanied by either Tiger Claw or Bradford, but night patrols will be your main responsibility. I expect you all to preform your duties with seriousness and concentration as you've shown in your training."

The four were shocked to say the least. Finally, they were getting out of the lair and into the world! They've heard so much about it and only seen a few glimpse here and there, but now… now they were actually going to see it!

"Thank you, Master Shredder. We won't let you down," Leonardo said, remembering the gratitude they owed for this freedom.

"I know you won't."

* * *

"Yeah! Did you guys hear that?! We're finally gettin' outta this place!" Raph cheered, punching the air in his excitement. The tails of his black mask danced in the air as he moved, while the scarf wiggled. Then again, all four of them had the same attire – black masks, red scarfs, dark wraps around their fingers and legs and dark gloves up to their elbows.

"Raph, calm down! You know we're not supposed to be this excited," Leo frowned, his arms crossed over his plastron.

"C'mon dude, you can't say you ain't excited! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," Mikey grinned, poking the leader in the shoulder.

"I'm with them on this one Leo. Just imagine what we can see and learn! It's impossible to not be excited!" Donnie smiled, giving a helpless shrug.

"Well, you can, if you're Leo the Bored!" the sai user smirked at his brother's expression.

"Ohhh snap! You just gonna let him say that?" the smallest ninja asked, trying to hide a grin.

"…You're right," there was a moment of dumb silence as the trio looked at their older brother in shock. Did… did they hear that right?

"We should be excited," Leo added, giving a smile. "I'm just… worried, you know? There are so many things that could happen and it would be my first real mission as leader… I just don't want any of you hurt," his voice dropped a bit as his brothers shared a look.

"Nothin's gonna happen Leo. We can take care of ourselves just fine, you saw that today. So stop bein' a downer and let's get movin'! Tiger is probably waitin' already!" the second oldest gave a smile, setting a hand on the leader's shoulder.

"Raph's right. The probability of us finding any actual trouble in the short time span we'll be outside is relatively low, especially considering the time and locations," Donnie summed up, smiling as his brothers tried to fully understand what he said.

"See? It'll be fine!" Mikey ginned wide, showing his white teeth.

"And if you're _still_ , not convinced, Tiger is gonna be with us."

"I get it okay. I get your points," Leo laughed and shook his head. "Thanks," he added, looking at his brothers. "You guys ready to do this?"

"Heck yeah!"

* * *

"You are late, cubs," the firm voice of the turtles' trainer made them wince slightly.

"Forgive us Sensei, we were simply getting ready," Leo explained in short and moved closer to the tall Tiger mutant. He had his paws cross over his chest as he stood by the door.

"I take it the Master was pleased with your exercise?" the green animals gave a bit of a sheepish look. Honestly, they had the best relationship with Tiger Claw out of any other members of the Foot Clan. He was strict as shell, but he did care somewhere deep down. Or maybe he just didn't want to lose his snacks? One could never be too certain…

"We're here ain't we?" Raphael spoke up, shrugging it off as nothing.

"Fair point, cub. But today, we shall see just how much more improvement your skills will require," the older mutant moved to the door and opened it up, revealing the world of the turtles.

It was night, the sources of light being street lamps and an occasional light from a building. The air was chilly at first, but it quickly became a nice cool and comfortable temperature. There were some sounds of cars and TVs or radios as well as an occasional bird or cat. The four brothers stood with wide eyes and mouths, staring into the new, unknowing land.

"Now then, shall we proceed with our patrol?" Tiger managed to get them back to reality as the ninjas shook their heads to focus.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, chapter 2. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - lemme just say, there will be a total of 5 up right now, since that's how far I've come to writing it on Tumblr. I try and post regullary, but I'm in high school so... yeah. Can't do everything.
> 
> Things are still the same as before...  
> Read, review and enjoy =D

 

_**Chapter 2** _

"Duuuuddddsss!" Mikey called out, a grin so wide on his face; it threatened to crack his face in two. He had his hands in the air, spinning around to get a better look of everything. They had made their way to the rooftop and were watching the city from there. Tiger Claw was leaning against the roof entrance, a very small smile on his face. He gave an excuse that the turtles needed to get a feel for their surroundings, but he just wanted them to see the city. As their trainer, he's heard their desire for the outside and wanted to give them the best chance he could.

"It's… incredible…" Leo stood on the edge of the roof, looking at the large city, his eyes taking in anything they could. The breeze blowing past brought some different smells to his nose, and he couldn't help but smile.

"I've read about the city and seen some pictures but this… It's beyond what I ever imagined," Donnie swallowed as he walked along the edge of the roof, his eyes analyzing anything they could see – from the alleys to the shops.

"Man, just imagine all the buts we're gonna be kicking!" Raph was grinning like a wolf, punching his open palm with his fist. He could already see himself and his brothers knocking heads and taking names.

"Your enthusiasm is greatly understandable," Tiger Claw spoke up, walking up to the four. "However, we will not be fighting this day. Master Shredder gave explicit instructions that you are only to observe and learn."

"Aw man…"

"Don't worry Raph, we'll do some training out here to get your blood lust down," Leo smirked as the said brother glared at him.

"Blood lust? That's so not it!"

"Oh yeah suuuuure dude! It's not like you just wanna beat someone up!" Mikey stuck out his tongue, but stood next to their Fearless Leader, just in case.

"Hey, I'm not _that_ bad!" the sai user's eyes were twitching with anger now.

"Well, you do have a habit of punching first, asking questions never. And you like hitting your brothers, so that's not wrong. Then there are the many times you've done some serious damage during training," Donnie said, thinking of other ways to piss of their brother.

"That's it!" Raph growled and lunged himself at his brothers, but they just laughed and scattered, each one going into a different corner.

"Looks like Raphie is **it**. Again," the smallest of the four laughed as their brother growled.

"You make it way to easy man," the oldest one had his hands folded with a grin.

"How many times is this? Four? But I guess it is the first time outside…"

"…Cubs…" Tiger Claw sighed as he watched three of the brothers running and evading their angered brother, while the fourth one tried to strange them. He's seen this a lot in their training – it's a way they release stress. Because of Raphael's temper, he was usually on the 'hunting' part of this game, yet there have been times when the others were the hunters. Well, as long as Shredder doesn't see them like this, it's fine. He demands complete focus and obedience, so Raph's anger was a constant danger to the said turtle.

"Enough!" then again, Tiger was still their trainer and a strict one at that. He allowed this fun only for so long before he grew serious.

At his call, all four brothers stopped their game and quickly moved to their sensei, looking a bit embarrassed and ashamed. They just couldn't help it…

"I know this is your first time outside, but you must remember, you are ninja. And not just some simple Foot soldier, but elite and the best of our clan. Act like it."

"Forgive us, sensei," they all bowed their heads and said.

"Good. Now, let us hunt."

* * *

The brothers were serious as they jumped from one rooftop to the next; following Tiger Claw and keeping their eyes open for any trouble. And since nothing was happening, the older mutant had turned this into a training exercise.

" _You must adapt to any new environment. The exercise here is to move in the shadows and remain unseen, while making little to no sound. Understood?"_

" _Hai sense!"_

So far, Leo was in the lead, avoiding the moonlight the best. Mikey followed behind, his agility and speed allowing him quick maneuvers around the new environment. Raph and Donnie were falling a bit behind, remaining silent, yet had a few problems keeping fully in the darkness.

A few buildings and hours later, Tiger stopped and kneeled down by the edge, looking with narrow eyes at an alley. The four turtles were quickly behind and moved next to him, their heads looking into the same direction. But unlike tigers, turtles don't have such a good vision so they weren't seeing what he was.

"Sensei?" the leader asked carefully, still trying to spot something.

"…We are finished for today," the trainer said with a frown, standing up. "We are heading back now. You four should get some sleep – we begin some new training in the morning. I have a report I must give to the Master."

"Is everything alright?" the brothers were a bit confused, and the smartest out of them was still trying to find see what Tiger saw. He had a habit of always craving information and wanting to analyze anything he could, so when he couldn't, it made him annoyed.

"It's none of your concerns now, cubs. Come, we must head back. Daylight is almost upon us…" Tiger Claw gave one final look at the alley, at the manhole cover and let out a small growl, before leading his students back to the lair.

* * *

"That was so cool dudes! I mean, did you see all the lights? And – and the smells! I've never smelled something so good before!" Michelangelo was smiling as he walked down the hall to his room, his brothers right behind him.

"You mean that 'Antonio's Pizza-Rama' place? It did smell nice…" Raphael shrugged, letting out a tired yawn.

"I wonder what Tiger Claw saw in that alley… It seemed to really get his attention," Leonard muttered deep in thought, rubbing his chin.

"I don't know what was there, but I'm never missing something like that again…" Donatello was still a bit annoyed by the fact he couldn't see it. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the lab," the smart turtle said and turned a corner, opening a door which read 'Danger! Enter on your own responsibility!' and bellow it was a smaller sign 'No Mikey, you can't touch anything.'

"What got under his shell?" the sai user asked no one in particular as they watched the door get slammed shut.

"Something about not seein' well? He needs glasses or something?" that earned the smallest ninja a smack over the head. "Ouch! What was that for, Raph?"

"He doesn't need glasses, shell for brains. It's 'bout that thing with Tiger Claw. The dude's probably gonna make some crazy thing that'll help him with it," the hot-head rolled his eyes and moved further down.

"I just hope he'll be ready for mornings training… Sensei never likes it when one of us is late…" Leo mumbled, that thing with the alley still in his head.

"Don't remind me… Last time, I was late like what, five minutes? That so ain't fair for doing a hundred pushups!" the youngest threw his hands in the air.

"Then don't sleep in next time," Raph called back before giving a nod of 'G'night' and walked into his own room, closing the door behind him.

"He's right Mikey, you should head to bed sooner," Fearless Leader gave a soft smile and put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I know, I know… but man, I don't know if I'll sleep any today! I'm just too excited!"

"If you need to release some energy, I'm always ready for some late night sparring," Leo smirked and, just as he predicted, Mikey was running towards his door.

"Oh know what? I just started feelin' tired. Maybe next time? Maybe never? Great! Good night, Leo!" the hyper ninja called and hid in his room. Anything to avoid late night sparring matches. Normal ones were great, but the night time ones… man, they were just brutal.

The oldest brother stood still in the hall for a few seconds, smiling and shaking his head, before turning towards his own door. As he reached for the knob, he paused. He still really wanted to know what happened with Tiger before. Maybe he could drop by and just happen to hear what was going on…

He quickly pushed that thought away. No, don't do that. It doesn't matter what happened, it wasn't worth getting punished by the Shredder. With a sigh, Leo opened his door and stepped in, closing it behind and proceeding to get ready before laying down on the matt which acted as a bed.

Despite being the best of the Foot ninjas, the four brothers didn't really have many accommodations in their rooms. Their bed was a matt with a blanket in the far corner of the room. There was a simple wardrobe by the wall where they all stored their weapons and gear. A desk table in the corner allowed them any work or research they needed. There were now windows in the rooms, and the only source of light they might need were either candles or a simple lamp from the ceiling.

Now, as three of the turtles slept, the fourth one was working in his lab. Donnie was allowed to do what he wanted in this place – his little sanctuary – so long as he obeyed and did as the Shredder said. Even from a young age, Donatello had always enjoyed creating things and finding out how it works. And right now, he was working on something of his own that just might help him in dark and dreary places. He's been itching to make it, but now that they would be outside more, he finally got the last bit of reason to finish it.

* * *

"Report, Tiger Claw," Oroku Saki said with authority as he sat in his throne, using one hand to support his head as he watched with narrow eyes.

"Master," the cat mutant got on one knee and bowed his head. "The patrol was uninterrupted. The turtles were excited, as you predicted, yet remained focused. I tested their stealth abilities as well – they are well prepared for training there," the trainer gave a short report, looking up at the metal-clad-ninja.

"I see. Good. The sooner they are used to the city, the sooner it can be mine," the Shredder nodded in approval.

"There was… something else as well, Master," Tiger was a bit hesitant to speak and fidgeted on the ground, not sure how to say it.

"What would that be?"

"…I smelled **him** ," Saki's eyes opened wide as he straightened in his throne.

"You are certain?" his voice was already seeping in anger.

"Yes Master. I even saw him going back into the sewers. He seemed to have recovered faster than thought."

"Did the turtles see him or did he see them?" the human narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"I do not believe so Master. He must have come up for supplies. But Master… he has improved much since last time. I barely caught his scent this time."

"…Yes, Yoshi always did know how to hide like the coward he is… But he must still believe the turtles are dead. We need to keep it that way."

"What should we do then?"

"…I'm sending you and Bradford down there. Find him and where he lives and either get rid of him, or scare him away. The further he is from my elite, the better."

"And, what of the turtles?"

"…Tomorrow I'll send them on a mission on the far side of the city. Xever will be joining them. There has been a group stealing from my warehouse. They call themselves the 'Purple Dragons'. I want to show these fools what happens when they anger a true dragon."

"Understood sir."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam. Okay, finished here, on to the next one. I won't get too much into stuff here, cause I've done it before...  
> But seriously, check out Mesacat13 - not only is her art superb, she came up with the idea. Give her some love~~
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed. Feel free to follow, fave and review if you feel like it =D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say that, yes, there will be almost all chars from the 2012 show - as you can see by reading. That is all. Go on with the story xD

 

_**Chapter 3** _

It wasn't Tiger Claw's call or some random Foot soldier that woke them this time. No, it was something else and it made their hearts beat faster than before. They still had about two hours of sleep, but it was all forgotten when the explosion rocked the hall.

"What the shell?!" Raph called, already holding his sais as he rushed out of his room.

"Are we under attack?" Leo stood in the doorway, looking up and down the hall.

"Dunno bro, but it came from the lab!" Mikey pointed at the first door down as the trio could see smoke coming from under the door.

"Donnie!" they yelled, rushing to the lab. They couldn't hear anything and the leader was about to say be careful, when Raphael just kicked the door open, growling and ready to kick someone into next month.

"Donnie?" Leo called, getting over the fact his brother rushed in blindly. The whole place was covered in smoke and the lights were out. As none of them had spent much time in here, they didn't really know where anything was.

"Ugh… Guys?" the smart turtle called, followed by a coughing fit as he walked towards the light from the hall. His brothers' silhouettes were guiding him through the lab.

"D, what happened?!" the youngest panicked, seeing his brother walking towards them.

"Oh, nothing much –cough – I just, um… blew something up…" the bo staff under explained simply, giving next to no information to his brothers.

"Blew what up?" Leo looked worried as he checked the taller ninja for injuries.

"Yourself again?" the hot-heated turtle grumbled, annoyed that there was no one here to fight and that he was so rudely woken.

"No," Don shot his older brother a glare. "I was just… experimenting with something."

"And it worked fine didn't it, eh Donnie?"

"For your information, Raph, it did work," another cold glare to the annoyed sibling. "I was just testing the limits and miscalculated the dosage. The smoke is the result of that."

"What were you working on?" the leader was still a bit skeptical as the smoke started to clear and the lights were able to be turned back on.

"This," the brainy ninja smiled and pulled out a… something from his pocket. It looked like half of glasses, with a small suction cup at the end. Donnie set the contraption on the left side of his face, the suction cup sticking to his head, while the glass part was covering his left eye. His brothers looked confused as to what it was.

"I knew you needed glasses!" Mikey pointed a finger at the thingofmagic, and got a smack over the head by his hot-headed brother.

"They're not glasses! Well, not the normal kind," the staff user sounded proud and gave his 'less smart' brothers a smug look. "This bad boy is going to help me see in the dark! It's a motion tracker, accommodated with a heat sensor and even gives night vision!"

"…So, cat eyes? Tiger Claw would be honored Don."

"…" the second youngest didn't even know what to say. There was so much wrong with that.

"Speaking of which…" Leo muttered, trying to stop the fight between his younger brothers before it even started. "The racket must not have been as bad as we thought. Doesn't seem like anyone else heard it."

"Thank whoever for small favors!"

"Raph, really bro, you're gonna jinx it. Like always."

"I never jinx it! You're the one who's always running your mouth!"

"At least I can be quiet, unlike you…"

The two's argument continued, yet the calmer two of the four managed to ignore it. Leonardo sighed and rubbed his face while Donatello simply shook his head. It was nothing new really, but shell it was early. If they kept it up like this, someone might actually come running here.

"Okay, all of you, OUT!" the tallest brother had enough and literally pushed his siblings out, closing the door behind him.

"I still got two hours and I need to perfect my baby. So if you Neanderthals _would leave me alone_! that'd be great!"

"…What's a 'Neanderthal'?" Mikey blinked as his brothers stood frozen outside the door.

"Someone's a grumpy turtle," Raph frowned and folded his arms.

"Well, you did break down his door," Leo said matter-of-factly, giving his younger brother a 'it's your fault' look.

"I thought he was in danger!"

"Who was in danger?" the trio turned around, seeing a sleepy Xever standing in the hall. He was half naked, with only a pair of pants on, his hair a mess and he looked like he was ready to fall to the ground.

"Dude, what the shell are you doin' here?" Raph asked, shocked to see his friend here. He and Montes were actually really good friends and one heck of a deadly team up. The former thief and the hot-head liked sparring together, as they were both aggressive and had similar ways of fighting. So far, the turtle was in the lead by two points, but the human has been upping his game for a while.

"I heard somethin' get blown up…" the sleepy man answered, yawing.

"So you came here, not dressed, not focused and not even paying attention?" the oldest mutant questioned, a frown on his face.

"Well, no. I was ordered to see if you four weirdoes were fine. Hearing you yelling from the other side – I figured you were doing great."

"Where's Tiger Claw? Shouldn't he be here?" Leonardo asked, confused again. Today just seemed like a total mess…

"TC? He went somewhere with Bradford I think… Somethin' 'bout findin' someone? I dunno, lost interest half way into the report," the mercenary shrugged, letting out another yawn.

"So… no morning training?" the hyper ninja asked, his eyes going from one person to the next. His brothers were about to say something, when they realized they didn't know what to say. Without Tiger, they didn't really have anyone telling them what to do. Well, except the Shredder. They just hoped he wouldn't be in charge of their training.

"…Well, even if sensei isn't here, we can have our training," the oldest turtle shrugged, seeing his two brothers frown.

"Yeah, you guys do that… We'll be headin' out in a bit anyway," Xever added, turning around and stretching his arms in the air.

"Heading out? Us? Where? Why?"

"Someone pissed off the Shredder. He wants us to take care of them."

"Finally, we're getting some action!"

"Yeah, hopefully, not too much."

It was an hour and something later that Donnie finally crawled out of his lab, looking like a turtle zombie, as said by Mikey.

"Dude, you don't look so good," the hyper ninja poked his older brother in the shoulder.

"Ugh… I'm just tired…" Donatello slapped the youngest hand away, letting out a yawn. "Where are Leo and Raph?" he added, not seeing his older brothers.

"Oh, they're in the dojo sparring. With Tiger Claw missing, Leo thought he'd take over training. Raph disagreed. They argued. Then they started fighting. And _then_ Leo turned that into an exercise."

"…" Don looked blankly at his brother, not really sure what he was hearing. The older duo was fighting again, that was no surprise, but Tiger was missing? Just what did he miss?

"Also we're going on our first mission tonight! How exciting is that?!"

"…How long was I in the lab…?" yeah, today was totally a mess.

After Leo and Raph were exhausted enough to calm down, and Donnie was woken up, the brothers made their way to the Shredder's room. They were called there for that missions they've heard about. And when they arrived, Xever was already there.

"Master," they greeted, heads bowed and kneeled in front of Saki.

"Everyone is here. Good," the man clad in metal looked down at his subjects. "I have an important mission for you five," the brothers looked up, ready to accept any job.

"There is a gang in this city that thinks they can steal from me. I want you to go to their hideout at the docks, and show these fools the error of their ways. Do not disappoint me. Leonardo, you will be leading this mission. I expect it to go well," the oldest turtle looked slightly surprised, but nodded in assurance.

"We won't, Master," all five of them said, giving a bow of the head and standing up.

"Xever," the said man looked up, startled. "If at all possible, try and get these thugs to see reason. I may yet forgive their idiocies, should they swear their allegiance to me."

"Understood, Master Shredder. I'll make them an offer they can't refuse."

"So, your first mission," Montes had a smile on his face as he followed the turtles across the rooftops. He and Raph were hanging in the back, covering the others. Leonardo was leading; making sure the path was safe for his brothers. Mikey and Donatello were in the middle, keeping an eye out for anything that could prove a threat.

"Yeah… It's kinda exciting to be honest… My blood's boiling," the second oldest mutant admitted, his lips twitching in a smile.

"Well, it's nothing too special from what I can tell. Don't get too wild in there yeah?" the mercenary smirked.

"Oh yeah, 'cause you're such a pro yourself."

"Better than you."

"Really now? Okay, you're on! The one who gets the most wins!"

"Great, I've been itching to get my three points."

"Guys, quiet!" the leader called from the front, crouched down by the edge of a building, his eyes narrow as they locked onto a shed by the docks.

"Is that them?" Michelangelo asked, looking from his brother to the shed.

"Let me check…" Donnie reached into his bag and pulled out the scanner he created. Putting it on his face, he pressed a button and the glass started showing him all sorts of information.

"Looks like there are a lot of them… Twenty something… All armed and there are more weapons in the shed… This must be where they've been bringing everything they've stolen," the brainy turtle explained, his heat sensor picking up the many humans there.

"How are we doing this then?" the youngest looked at their leader.

"I say we charge in and knock some sense into these guys," Raph grinned, punching his open hand with his fist.

"No, we need to be stealthy for this one… We don't know how dangerous these guys are," Leo shook his head, trying to come up with a better plan.

"Um, you might want to work harder on that plan Leo. These guys are moving," Don said in a bit of a panic, seeing the heat signatures move around.

"C'mon Leo, we need to stop them! What are you waiting for?"

"Bro, whatever you're gonna do, do it fast! I don't like the gear on these jokers…"

Leonardo had his eyes closed, forming a plan and figuring it out. He just hoped everyone could handle it and that it wouldn't get them killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got any questions? Ask! Either here, in a PM, on Tumblr... whatever! I don't bite (and neither does Mesa)


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4** _

"C'mon you lazy slugs! Get movin'! We need these guns packed and ready, _yesterday_!" the leader of this group yelled, pointing at the truck which was parked not too far away. He had long, blonde hair in a ponytail and was easily the side of a closet.

"If you got a crate, get it on the damn truck! Move it!" the growled, waving his gun around. The other members grumbled and did as he said. And then, a few seconds later, someone screamed, a crate was dropped and everyone panicked.

"What the hell was that?!" someone yelled, pulling out a gun and aiming it towards the direction the scream came from.

"Whoever the hell's there, show yourself! You know who you messin' with? Do ya, punk?! We're the Purple Dragons!" silence followed the leader's shout, but only for a few moments.

"Well then, dragons…" two figures appeared in the shadows – one tall and skinny, the other smaller but more muscular.

"How do you fare against a turtle?" Raph smirked, his sais in his hands and crossed in front of his face. Xever stood next to him, twirling a butterfly knife in his hand.

"W-What the heck are you?!"

"Ain't it obvious nimrod? I'm a turtle!" with that, the hot-head charged forward, letting out a roar and scaring many of the Dragons.

"S-Shot it! Shot the damn freak!"

"Always so eager," Montes chuckled and shook his head, before giving a smirk and running towards the enemy as well. Can't let the ninja have all the fun now can he?

The turtle evaded the bullets flying towards him and jumped in the air, coming down onto the nearest Dragon. The impact knocked the sucker out and Raph dashed over to the next, disarming him with his sais. Xever was right behind, dancing between the rain of bullets and slid on the ground towards an attacker. With a smirk, he used his knife and sliced with such speed, the man hardly had any time to react. A moment later, the man's pants dropped, revealing yellow underwear with flowers.

"Aw, isn't this cute?" the Brazilian laughed as the man gave a girly shriek and ran away.

"Dude, you're way behind! I'm already on 6!" the sai user laughed, kicking someone and sending him flying into a crate.

"Because we need to buy time, you hot-headed wacko!" Montes rolled his eyes and delivered an around the house kick to someone's face.

"Hey, we can take care of these jokers fine! I don't see why Leo was so-!" Raphael's sentence was cut short when something hard, heavy and metal slammed into his body. It send the reptilian flying into the shed, breaking the wall and it didn't look like he was getting up.

"No one freak comes into **my** place, beatin' up **my** guys and stoppin' **me** for deliverin' **my** goods to **my** employer! Got that?!" the boss of this join yelled, holding a large metal pipe with his hands.

"Good thing there isn't only one then!" a new voice called as three more figures jumped from the shadows – two by the shed and one by Xever. There was a groan as Raph moved slightly, before being helped by the two nearby. It was easy then, to see the shells on their back and the weapons in their hands.

"What is this?! The circus?! You freaks are dead!" the blonde hissed and swung his pipe at Montes and the turtle with the katanas.

* * *

"Hey Raphie, you okay?" Mikey asked as he pulled his bother out of the shed.

"Don't… call me… Raphie…" the hot-head grumbled, holding his head and wincing as he moved his arms.

"Yep, he's fine," the youngest gave a smile before his eyes landed his brother's arms. "Dude, those are some splinters!"

"Nothing seems too damaged… No artery… and only your left arm… Does this hurt?" Donnie quickly assessed the damage and pressed his finger against Raph's left bicep.

"Stings a bit but I've had worse," the eldest of the three shook his head to get a clear view.

"What the shell took you guys so long?"

"Hey, it was my first time _ever_ even seeing a truck! It took a bit before I was able to rewire and disengage it! At least now, they won't be able to run away," the tallest one sounded offended as he explained.

"Great, you messed up a truck while I was getting my shell handed to me," despite his words, the younger duo knew he was just being his sarcastic self.

"Well, we're here now, so let's finish up shall we?"

* * *

"Stand. Still. You. Little. Frog!" the blonde hissed as he swung the pipe at Leo, only for the ninja to keep evading him at every turn.

"Frog? Really? I thought you and your joint knew better," Xever said and laughed as he heard that, running towards the madman.

"Xever?" the man blinked, clearly recognizing the mercenary. His momentary distraction allowed Leonardo to rush him, spinning in the air and using his katanas to slice the pipe. It broke apart, landing on the ground in pieces.

"Oh crud…" the Dragon mumbled as both Montes and Leo charged at him and knocked him to the ground with a loud thud.

"Don't move," the oldest turtle was dead serious, his third eyelid making his eyes white. The human growled before seeing the blade at his throat.

"C'mon you freak, finish it off! Or don't you have the stomach for it?" Leo remained unfazed but pressed the blade closer to the man's throat, drawing a thin line of blood.

"Now, now my friend, that isn't the mission," the Brazilian put a hand on the turtle's shoulder, looking from him to the man on the ground. "Although you did hurt his brother… he has every right to slice your head off…"

"…What do you want, Montes?"

"It's not what I want – it's what my boss wants," as the humans spoke, the mutant took a deep breath and calmed himself, his third eyelid lifting, revealing his blue eyes.

"What, the party's over?" Michelangelo pouted as he arrived with his comrades, looking around and see some Dragons lying on the ground, while more were still escaping.

"With their leader facing death, they clearly thought it best to run away. Not a bad idea, but it sure shows who's loyal," Donnie shrugged.

"This guy…" Raphael growled and moved past his younger siblings to the blonde and was about to punch him in the face, when his older brother stopped him.

"Calm down," even if it sounded cold and steady, there were hints of worry in the leader's voice as he saw the splinters in his brother's arms. "You okay?"

"'M fine…" lowering his arm, the hot-head lightly touched his wounded arm.

"Now then… shall we go down to business?" Xever was still talking to the gang leader.

"If it keeps my head on my shoulders, why not."

"Good! I don't see why more negotiations can't go as smoothly as this!"

* * *

It didn't take long for the Purple Dragon leader to agree on the 'proposition'. Xever made it **very** clear that, you either join the Shredder or you die. There might supposedly be some issues with the gang's boss, Hun, but the blonde assured he could get the man to see reason. If not, well, he begged for his life.

"Well, not bad for your first mission," Montes smiled as he watched the Dragons pack the weapons and load them up. They need to return them now and not everyone was very happy. But it was better than death.

"…" Leo frowned and turned around, walking away from the docks.

"Bro?" Mikey called and moved after him. Donnie was taking care of Raph's arm – he just took out the splinters and used a bandage to cover it up.

"Leo? You okay?" the other two quickly joined them and Xever was considerate enough to give them the privacy for the talk.

"I'm not sure…" the leader sighed and rubbed his face.

"Why? The mission was a success and we did it without much trouble," the brainy turtle pointed up, not understanding.

"Yeah, but look at what happened to Raph. It was my plan to send him and Xever in as a distraction and it could have gotten him killed!"

"Leo, look, I can take care of myself. It wasn't your fault – I wasn't payin' attention," the hot-head tried to explain. He and his older brother might fight a lot, but he didn't want Fearless feeling like he was to blame.

"…Still, I should have sent Mikey with you two. We barely got there in time."

"Hey, you'll know that for next time bro! Live and learn, live and learn," the youngest grinned, making his brothers smile as well.

"You're right little brother. Thanks," the leader patted the smallest's head.

"Well, I know Tiger Claw isn't going to be happy. He'll probably give us more drills," Donatello sighed, his shoulders dropping.

"Hey, better Tiger's drills than Shedder, am I right?" Raphael's brother thought for a second and nodded, agreeing in full.

"If you four are done," Montes called, a bored look on his face.

* * *

"Ugh, this place stinks!" Chris frowned in disgust as he dropped down the manhole. He wore the Foot uniform, even the helmet and had a katana on his back.

"Be silent fool!" Tiger Claw hissed, turning his head sharply. "The one we are hunting is not to be taken lightly. And we are in his territory now…"

"You still haven't told me exactly _who_ we're looking for," Bradford frowned but followed after the mutant.

"He is the Shredder's greatest enemy. But he has been mutated – part human, part rat."

"Great, we're on a rat hunt then…" Tiger was not amused by the pun.

"Stay on your guard fool."

They continued in silence, the water in the sewers being the only sound around. After about half an hour, Tiger stopped them and kneeled on the ground.

"What? Smell something?" Chris narrowed his eyes and looked around, but it was hard to see in the darkness.

"…Yes… He was here. He's trying to cover his tracks and is doing well. However, a wet rat carries a smell stronger than sewer water," the mutant stood up and sniffed the air. "This way," he turned to the left and headed down there, his human companion following.

After a few more minutes, the feline stopped again, his hand on the gun on his hip. He smelled the air, looking around the tunnel.

"I know you are here, Hamato Yoshi. Show yourself and face us!" he called into the darkness, making Bradford tense and look around as well.

"You hunt me down in a pair and ask for combat," a voice echoed in the darkness and there was the sound of feet pattering on the ground. "If you have any honor, you would have wished to fight me mutant to mutant!"

"Great, this freak show keeps getting better…" Chris mumbled, not liking the constant pattering around him.

"Facing you alone is a fool's errand! I know of you, Hamto Yoshi, and I know you are a capable warrior!"

"Then your Master has told you much," the pattering stopped and something crashed to the duo's left. Turning, they caught a glimpse of a tail.

"For years, Okoku Saki has been hunting me, my family, and then he finally found us… He took something precious to me, something I can never get back. And still, even after everything he has done to me… he still hunts me!" a sudden gust caused the two Foot soldiers to back up, each with their back against the others.

"Why won't you leave me alone!" the last part was screamed and a giant rat rushed at the two, eyes wide with anger and slashed at them.

The duo was shocked, but Tiger Claw managed to block the attack aimed at his head, letting the rat fly past him. Using the tail, Yoshi smacked Chris across the head and knocked him to the side and into the tunnel wall.

There was a hiss as Hamato turned to strike again, only for Tiger to pull out his freeze gun, firing if off and causing the other mutant to evade. As soon as the attack was canceled, Tiger fired again, planning to take care of the rat. But it didn't work – Yoshi was far too quick for the gun and rushed around the tunnel, jumping from one place to another. He even jumped onto the ceiling and from there, lunged at the feline mutant.

"Ugh, what hit me?" Chris asked, standing up and looking around, only to be slammed back against the wall as Tiger Claw came crashing into him. Both now lay on the ground, groans of pain escaping them as Yoshi walked over.

"Tell your master, that if he wishes to take my life, he should not hide behind his servants. He should come and face me, if he still knows what honor means


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, finally, all caught up. Phew! This one is extra long to keep you folk content for the next day or two...
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read or is reading, you are awesome!   
> Hope you enjoy this one!

 

_**Chapter 5** _

"Leonardo, report," the Shredder's voice was demanding and his eyes hard. The four turtles and one human kneeled in front of him, heads bowed.

"We stopped the Purple Dragons' last movement of weapons. After disabling the truck, we engaged in a fight with the leader, and won," Leo gave a quick and curt report, never looking at the metal-clad ninja.

"And what of their cooperation?" the Master's eyes went to Xever, who gave his usual grin.

"Oh, they agreed. After a beating, but all the weapons they stole should have been returned. And now, they're probably talking with Hun – their boss."

Silence followed that statement as Saki narrowed his eyes on Raph. Or more precisely, his wounded arm. The hot-head, sensing the stare, looked up and quickly looked away. He didn't want to make the man angry.

"Clearly this could have gone better," at the Master's words, the mutants tensed.

"However…" a glimmer of hope sparked in their hearts, but they dared not too hold onto it. "This was your first mission without Tiger Claw and Leonardo's first taste of leadership. You did your mission and you did as you were trained. But it is clear you will need further training. When Tiger Claw returns, I shall inform him and discuss how your training shall proceed. Dismissed," with a wave of his hand, the Shredder made all five warriors bow and leave the room.

* * *

"That was…" Raphael let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. When Saki looked at him, for a moment, he thought he might get punished for getting hurt.

"Too close…" Leo lightly shook his head to gain focus again. He thought his heart stopped there for a second when Okoku sounded so displeased.

"If this is what's it like when we succeed, what happens when we fail?" Donnie's question froze everyone and stole their breaths. Even Montes looked shocked.

Just the thought of failure and the consequences which would follow sent chills up their spines. Each one was imagining what the great ninja would do to them – or worse, their friends and brothers. The eerie and scary silence lasted for about a minute, before Mikey whispered in a shaky voice: "I… I don't wanna know D… I really don't wanna find out…" it was so quiet, even those standing next to him barely head him. And finally for a change, all three of his brothers agreed with him.

With Tiger Claw still away, the turtles were free until his return. So, they did different things to occupy themselves. Donnie finally had some real time to work on his toys and contraptions, and he allowed Mikey to join. So long as he didn't touch anything. Raph and Xever were in the dojo, sparring or comparing their skills on dummies. They were mostly just tossing around fake insults, but managed to actually have a conversation. Leo was meditating in his room, trying to focus himself. His first mission went terribly in his book and he aimed to correct it. He didn't want his brother hurt, either in battle because of his plan, or by Shredder because they failed.

* * *

"So, you ever gonna tell me how you ended up with the Shredder?" Raphael out of all his brothers, rarely called Saki 'master' – at least when not in the man's presence. Currently, he was trying to knock Montes off his feet, but was failing.

"I thought we have been through this," the human grinned and jumped in the air, avoiding another swipe for his legs. "I am not telling, as long as you aren't," with that, he delivered a kick into the turtle's plastron and sent him flying.

"Tell ya what," the mutant caught himself on his feet and slid over the wooden floor for a few meters, his arms crossed over his face. "If I can know ya down, you'll tell me."

"And why should I agree to that?"

"'Cause, if you can kick me into the wall, I'll tell you my story."

Despite how close the two were, neither was really good at 'talking about it' and rather ignored or covered up their feelings than telling. And Xever was a relatively new member to the Foot – joined about three years ago.

"Agreed," the Brazilian grinned and got into a fighting stance.

* * *

"What's this?" Mikey blinked at the glowing stick. It was a green-blue color and it seemed like liquid. Just, really thick and sticky. And it was moving. And glowing.

"Don't touch that!" Donnie called, eyes wide open as he watched his little brother open the top of the tube containing the… whatever. Michelangelo blinked, his hand still on the top of the thing, before giving a sheepish smile and gently setting it back.

"Honestly Mikey, there's a reason I keep things like that on a shelf! Away from your reach!" the taller turtled pinched the bridge between his eyes and sighed.

"But it looked so cool! It was glowing and moving! What is it?" the younger ninja grinned and climbed off the counter he used to reach the shelf.

"I'm not sure… Master Shredder brought it home about the same time he saved us. He's seen what it can do, but wanted to know more. And since I am the smartest person here, that job was given to me," the brainy mutant didn't shy away from praising himself, even puffed his chest a bit.

"So… what is it?"

"…I don't know."

"What?! But you said you were the smartest and all that! You should be making tea outta that thing by now!"

"It's not that simple Mikey… I've never even seen anything similar to this! It's not in any of the books I have and I can't find anything remotely like it on the internet. I haven't really had the time to work on it, but the Master said it 'reveals ones true nature.' That's not really something proven in science yet, so there must be a better explanation! There's no telling-," Don stopped talking and turned around, looking at Mikey with a bemused expression.

"Please tell me you aren't trying to drink that…" the idea was so, so stupid, Donatello couldn't help but smack his own forehead.

"…No…?" the hyper ninja stood frozen, the lid off the can of glowing liquid and tilted slightly towards his face.

"MIKEY!"

"Sorry! But dude, you talkin' like that – maybe it's like a super sauce or something! Super Tea! It gives you powers and stuff!"

"Mikey!" that one was growled and the younger turtle quickly put the can back.

"C'mon man, I was just messin' around. We're cool, right D?" he laughed and grinned, looking at his brother's expression. "Right… D?"

* * *

In the silence of his room, Leo took in and let out breathes. Quiet. Not a sound. Focused. Précises. Perfect. In… out… in… out… in-

"MIKEY!" at the yell from his younger brother, Leo sighed, his eye twitching. Just one day… was it too much to ask for some peace and quiet for one day…

The interruption didn't last long and the oldest mutant was able to return to his meditation. Somehow though, the little sounds of his brothers – Raph in the dojo and Donnie and Mikey in the lab – made him far more relaxed than he thought. They were all he had.

Donnie had his work and his lab, Raph found a close friend in Xever and Mikey had… well, his imagination, even if it wasn't that great, and was getting along with Bradford in the past month. But Leo? He didn't have anyone outside his brothers.

" _That's why I can't fail them…_ " he said to himself, letting out a silent breath again.

* * *

"Got ya!" Raph called as he lunged at Xever, a grin on his face.

"Too-!" Montes smirked and kicked the mutant in his plastron again, sending him flying towards the wall. "Slow," he finished and laughed, only to trip over… something as soon as he was back on his feet.

Both warriors hit the wall and ground at the same time and each one stayed still for a few moments, before they laughed. The turtle, being more resilient to pain, climbed to his feet first and walked over to his friend, offering a hand.

"You got me good," the Brazilian admitted, seeing the twin sais sticking out of the ground where he was standing a few seconds ago. The Ninja must have lodged them there while midair, knowing the human wouldn't be paying attention.

"I try," the hot-head shrugged off and helped his friend to his feet.

"Now, start talkin'," he crossed his arms over his plastron, a smirk on his face.

"What? No way! You hit the wall first! You are the one who needs to start talking," Xever folded his own arms, looking at his small friend from above.

"Okay, fine, we both tell," there was only a moment of pause before the turtle added: "But age before beauty pal. Spill it."

* * *

"So… do you even know what it's called?" Mikey asked, eyes still on the glowing can.

"I think he called it 'mutagen?' An accurate assumption on the name, since it is supposed to 'transform' one, but I don't really know how it all works…" Donnie sighed and shook his head, thinking of all the things he has to work on. The motion tracker was still a prototype of sorts, so he'd have to upgrade that later on. Then he needed to work on some sort of security measures for the lab – he keeps hearing someone go in and out at night. Now, it could just be Leo being worried or Mikey sleep walking, but it never hurt to be too careful.

"Can't you work on it now? Like, I wanna see what it does."

"Mikey that's-," the older brother stopped himself from speaking and looked at his younger sibling. "Actually not a bad idea…" he gave a smile. He's been so busy lately, always staying up late in the lab, that he forgot how to 'hang out' with his brothers.

"Yes! I knew you could do it!" Michelangelo cheered, throwing a fist in the air.

"…Say, you want to help me out here, little bro?" that was the first time Don had ever asked any of his brothers to help on a project. And Mikey was beyond happy.

"For real dude? You… won't like, mind and stuff?"

"Nah, of course not! It's thanks to you I'm even going to work on it."

"So cool man!"

* * *

"There is not much to say really…" Xever said, sitting with his back against the wall, with Raph on his left.

"I grew up in… a bad neighborhood, as you would call it. Abandoned by parents I never truly knew. There, I learned a harsh yet important rule: Steal if you want something or else starve to death," he glanced at his friend, who gave a somber nod.

"Well, at first, it wasn't really like that… I had a friend, a brother almost. We watched out for each other, worked together and ran together," a small, sad smile was on the human's lips. "And then, years and years later… we started growing a part… Vitor, he always wanted more and more – to build his own empire… I wanted no part of that, so, we parted ways… I continued to be a thief, a mercenary, taking on any jobs I could. And then came that fateful night…" the Brazilian's eyes darkened slightly as his reptilian friend blinked. He didn't want to interrupt the story.

"I got a call to steal a briefcase from some wealthy man. It was supposedly filled with money and if I succeeded, I would get half. An offer I couldn't refuse," another weak smile crawled on his lips. "Little did I know of the man I was sent to steal from, yet I did it anyway. Such a fool I was…"

"Who did you steal from?" the ninja spoke for the first time since his friend started speaking.

"Oroku Saki," chills went up the mutant's shell at that name.

"I was thrown into jail, where I spent a few years of my life. Learned a few tricks there, from making your own weapons to most of my combat training. And then, just when I started to settle in, Saki approached me and offered me a choice: Either stay in prison forever and rot there, or join him and his clan. It was another offer I could not refuse and again, I did not fully grasp at who I was dealing with. At least, not until it was too late… Now? I cannot leave, even if I wanted to."

* * *

Leonardo let out a final breath before opening his eyes and relaxing his muscles. An hour and a half of meditation can really cramp one up, but it was worth it. He felt… better, than before – more relaxed. But he couldn't hear his brothers any more. He wasn't really worried that they were in danger or anything, but did wonder what had happened that caused the silence. Especially given what was happening not long ago…

"Better check on them," standing up, the oldest turtle stretched his arms and walked over to his door, opened it up and stepped out. He took a deep breath of the new air before heading down the hall. The lab was closer than to the dojo, so he'd check on his youngest two siblings first. He just hoped Don hadn't tied Mikey up or something…

Arriving at the door, he didn't knock – if Donnie was working on something, he didn't want to disturb his smarter brother. He did however; open the door ever so slightly…

"Careful with the dosage now… We only need a few drops…" he could hear the brainy turtle's voice and got curios. Peering inside, he was presently surprised to see the older of the duo helping his younger one. They were holding something – a tube full of glowing gel? And Michelangelo was actually the one pouring it onto a glass. That was new…

"I know dude, I know! Don't stress me!" the hyper ninja called and carefully tipped the can, letting a small drop of the mutagen fall down.

"Good! Perfect!"

"Thanks bro! Now, what next?"

" _They're fine…_ " a small sigh escaped the leader as he smiled warmly – it was nice seeing his brothers get along so well. Without another word, he closed the door and headed down for the dojo.

Arriving there, he was shocked to hear… not much. No yells, insults, grunts or anything really, to show two hot-heads were ducking it out in there. So, as quietly as he could, Leo moved to the dojo door and carefully opened it up just a crack, to see inside. Again, he was surprised to see the two battle-loving warriors sitting and… talking? They were quiet and on the other side of the room, so Fearless couldn't hear them, but it was clear they were deep into the conversation. Something new…

" _Maybe they aren't just instincts and reflexes,_ " he thought with a smile and closed the door before leaving the dojo entirely. He didn't want to eavesdrop if they were having a private conversation. With all his brothers checked, Leo thought he would go see if Tiger Claw was back. With that in mind, he turned towards the entrance hall and started walking.

* * *

"So, what about you then?" Montes looked at the turtle with curios eyes. "I told my story, now it's time you told yours."

"Oh, yeah, right," Raphael had forgotten about the bet, taken in by his friend's story. He couldn't imagine living alone like that, without any of his brothers.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know much 'bout it," the mutant started, scratching the back of his head and sighed.

"Me and my brothers – we were supposed to part of some… science experiment thing. They used us as test subjects and all that, gave us some weird ooze? I… don't really remember any of it…" his voice dropped a bit, but Xever was still paying attention.

"Like, there was this guy, the main guy or somethin', called Hamato Yoshi or Roshi? I'm not sure. But, he was the leader of the whole thing, and Shredder was there. Like, he was working with Yoshi on something. He thought it was a cure, but it wasn't. It was a kind of… disease spread, ya know?" he looked up at the Brazilian, who seemed in thought for a few seconds before giving a nod.

"Well, when Saki found out that, it wasn't to help people, he got really mad. He went and tried to stop 'em, make the guys there see what they were doin' was wrong and all, but no one listened. Thing is – we were the main attraction. If whatever they were doing to _us_ worked, then it would work on others. So, one day, Saki just straight up trashed the whole place. Roshi was there, and tried to stop him – he was also tryin' to get rid of us."

"You weren't useful anymore?" Montes couldn't help but ask, feeling a ping of pain in his chest. On some level, he could empathize with that…

"Somethin' like that yeah…" the turtle pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees, resting his chin on one knee.

"So, when the whole place was trashed, Saki took us, 'cause he didn't want us to die. I mean, I guess he's been watchin' us grown in the, what… six years? Maybe we grew on him…" the last bit was barely above a whisper, a sliver of hope Raph rarely showed.

"But anyway, during all the fire and running and alarms and stuff, the thing these jokers've been usin' on us got on Yoshi. It turned him into a rat – so Shedder says. It happened 'cause Roshi was a real dirty guy – like a rat, ya know?" looking at the mercenary, the ninja quickly bit his cheek. Xever must have been called a rat a few times himself…

"I guess that makes some sort of sense?" the human didn't seem fazed by it though.

"Yeah, and 'cause we were still… kids I guess, when they were experimenting on us, that ooze turned us into this," the turtle gestured to himself.

"That's all I know anyway," with a shrug, Raph relaxed a bit and lowered his knees, sitting cross-legged now.

"…Well, I'm not sure about you my friend, but I think we can agree that neither has had a very pleasant past, yes?"

"Sure as shell man. I just wish I could pay that Yoshi guy back for all he did to me and my brothers. If he's still alive, I'll make sure he ain't for long."

* * *

Leo walked down the hall and was heading for the front door to ask the guard if Tiger Claw was back yet, when he passed the Shredder's room. He had no intention of going in or even cared what was happening, but when he heard someone's voice, he stopped in his tracks.

" _He… got away, Master_ ," that was defiantly Tiger, but he sounded really worried. And someone got away? From him? Seriously?

" _How?_ " Saki's voice was even more cold and menacing than usual. That single word shook Leo to the core, but he gathered up enough courage to step closer to the door. He really shouldn't be doing this, but he really wanted to know…

" _He ambushed us in the sewer. It was his ground, not ours. We were not prepared,_ " Tiger explained in a grim tone.

" _The rat was more skilled than we thought, Master. And I was at a disadvantage – darkness is not somewhere I can fight,_ " that was Bradford – he was back as well it seemed.

" _You are a ninja, Bradford! Such an excuse only shows how weak you are!_ " okay, now Saki sounded really, really mad. Leo had almost pulled away, but stood firmly on the ground.

" _F-forgive me, Master…_ "

"… _So, it seems my old enemy has improved. And he challenges me? The fool._ "

" _What shall we do, Master?_ "

" _If Hamato Yoshi wishes to fight me, let him. After everything that has happened, I am surprised he still knows how to speak._ "

The eldest turtle pulled away from the door in shock, his eyes open wide. His breath hitched in his chest and his body felt numb. Hamato Yoshi was back? And he fought against Tiger Claw and Bradford? Why?! Why was he back? Hasn't he caused enough damage already?! Suddenly, anger took over the ninja's mind and he felt his blood boil. No, this couldn't he happening… If Yoshi thought he could take them out again, or use them again, he was wrong! No matter what, that… monster isn't going to lay a finger on any of his brothers. Not so long as Leonardo had breath in his body. That, he swore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam. Okay, yeah, as you can clearly see, the story is.. different. We'll get into that later on - this is all you get. Got ya hooked yet? =P  
> Remember: ask away anywhere to either me (here or on Tumblr) or Mesa (on Tumblr) under the name "mesacat13"
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and if you did, feel free to tell me - us - everyone whatever, what you think? Great!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the new one, finally. Sorry for the delay everyone!  
> Things start getting dark and horrible from this point on - now that doesn't mean there won't be anything nice anymore, but, don't say I didn't want you ;)

 

Leonardo was so in thought, he hardly heard the 'Dismissed!' from the Shredder's room and the footsteps which followed. Luckily, he was quick enough and jumped onto the wall, getting to higher ground, so he was just above the large entrance.

"Bah, next time I see that rat, things will be different," Chris had a frown as he walked out, the doors closing behind the two.

"Fool… Taking on Hamato alone is like asking the Master to kill you. No, we need to prepare, bring him to us to fight on our terms," Tiger said before stopping mid-movement. He glanced over his shoulder and sniffed the air.

"What is it?" Bradford was annoyed – or so he sounded – as he watched the mutant. Leo, from above, held his breath and sunk deeper into the shadows, praying he wasn't found.

"I thought I smelled… turtle," the trainer spoke quietly and looked at the other side.

* * *

"One of them must have passed over here. You worry too much. They live here remember?" the human sighed and shook his head, walking away from the hall.

"…" Tiger didn't seem convinced and looked around the hall again. Nothing. The smell was fresh so why… Maybe he was overthinking it. The recent failure and the Shredder's anger had put him slightly on edge.

When Fearless was sure the two superiors were gone, he let out a breath. His heartbeat was going off the charts and his body felt numb. Taking about a minute, Leo made sure he was alright before jumping down from his hiding spot, landing without a sound.

* * *

"Soooooooo…" Mikey dragged out the word, moving around his older brother as the brainy turtle worked with the glowing ooze.

"It's hard to understand, but… it's incredible…" Donnie spoke in awe and had his mouth open as he watched the mutagen under the microscope. "It's, literally, out of this world!" he called, pulling away, needing a few seconds.

"What do you mean by that?!" the youngest panicked a bit, eyes wide with fear.

"I mean that, it wasn't made on Earth. There are no elements in it indicating anything remotely similar to what we have here. It must have been brought here by-,"

"ALIENS! It's so on dude! They're gonna take over the world and eat our brains!"

"…Well, you're not really wrong – for a change…" the last part was said more quietly and it seemed the hyper ninja didn't hear it.

"But if they do come for us, I'm sure you're safe Mikey," he added with a grin and the younger one defiantly heard that.

"Hey! Not cool man!"

Whatever Don was going to say back, died, when the lab door was opened and a large, mutant tiger stood there. The duo opened their eyes wide and quickly scrambled in front of the trainer, looking at attention.

"Sensei!" they called, giving respectful bows. "What… are you doing here? We thought you were off on a mission?"

"I was, but I have returned now," Tiger spoke evenly, his voice still as powerful as the turtles remembered. And he hid his worry of the metal-clad ninja very well…

"Where are your brothers?"

"Raph's down at the dojo sparring with Xever and I think Leo was meditating in his room," the tallest reptilian explained, blinking once. "Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing, but we will be continuing your training shorty. Go to the dojo – I shall fetch Leonardo," with that, the older mutant turned and headed down the hall.

"…I got a bad feeling about this bro."

"You and me both Mikey…"

* * *

Leo ran quietly down the hall, trailing behind Tiger Claw. He hoped the trainer wouldn't go to their rooms just yet… He had no excuse if sensei asked why he wasn't, as usually, meditating and where he was.

Turning the corner, Fearless thought he was free, until he saw Tiger exit Donnie's lab. His stomach sank and he hid at the corner, eyes wide with fear. He knew the trainer was heading to his to his room – his younger brothers told Tiger where he was. Or, where he should have been.

" _What now?_ " he asked himself, as he heard the call of his name. Without a thought, the turtle turned and rushed into a different hall – down towards the dojo. He almost knocked the door down, he opened it so fast. And he managed to startle the two warriors inside – if he wasn't so scared, Leo would have been proud.

"Leo? The shell are you doing here?" Raph asked, blinking in surprise.

"I need some help."

* * *

Tiger walked down the hall, his silent steps giving no indication he was coming. It was not unusual for Leo to meditate, yet something told the mutant feline that the leader was not there. Mainly, the smell of the hall – someone had recently passed…

"Leonardo?" Tiger Claw stopped by the said turtle's door. He waited. No response. Narrowing his eyes, the mutant opened the door and frowned – it was empty.

"Where are you, cub?" Tiger turned and walked down the hall again, seeing Mikey and Donnie standing outside the lab, ready to follow.

"Let's go," silently, the duo followed the trainer as they all made their way to the dojo. They arrived faster than expected and when Tiger opened the door, he saw the other two brothers, plus Xever already inside.

"Sensei!" the older two called, one acting surprise the other actually being surprised. Montes gave a nod in a greeting.

"Cubs," the older mutant said back as the younger two joined their brothers. Tiger's eyes were locked on Leo, who swallowed under the trainer's gaze.

"I was told you were meditating Leonardo. Where have you been?" the oldest turtle was at a loss for words. He had never lied to his superiors and was bad at it altogether. Luckily, he has a younger brother to cover his sorry shell.

"He's been with me and Xever here. I thought it was too easy takin' on one, so I asked Leo if he wanted to tag with him," Raphael smirked and looked at the Brazilian, who blinked once, before sighing.

"I thought you said you weren't going to mention that…" it was no surprise that Xever joined in on the lie, even if he didn't really know what it was about.

"Hey man, nothing to be embarrassed 'bout," Raph lightly punched he human in the arm and gave a nod – 'I owe ya one' was what it meant and the human nodded back.

"I see…" Tiger Claw moved his narrowed eyes on the hot-heads, but they were not as easily intimidated. "Xever, if you don't mind, I'd like to train these cubs. Unless you want to join in…"

"No, sorry friend. Nothing it worth Tiger's training," Montes put his hands in the air and shook his head, giving a final look at his friend.

"Sure thing man," as the human passed, he caught Leo's look and saw him grateful, and he couldn't help the small smile.

"Enjoy yourselves, you wackos," with a wave of his hand, the dark-skinned man was out of the dojo and closed the door behind him.

* * *

The four brothers stood, two against two, their weapons drawn. As usual when they do tag team sparring, Leo was tagged with Donnie, while Raph and Mikey were a team. Tiger Claw saw it fit to make the odds as even as they can be, yet almost always, the younger duo got taken out first.

"The goal is to disarm the enemy and knock them to the ground," the feline spoke, hands behind his back as he stood not far from where the action would take place. The turtles each took a silent breath and gripped their weapons tighter.

"Begi-!" just as Tiger spoke, the dojo doors opened and the five mutants froze for a second or two at the metal-clad Master standing there.

"Master Shredder!" all else forgotten, the five quickly got on their knees, bowing their heads low. Ever Tiger seemed surprised that the man was here.

"Given your last performance and the case of your mission, I have grown an interest in seeing you train," Saki's voice was cold and carried power, making the brothers swallow.

"Master, I thought the hardening of their training would come… later," the oldest mutant stood up and whispered to the Shredder, while the kids stayed down.

"I have decided to start now. Will that be a problem?" the man's cold, yet annoyed eyes send shivers up the trainer's spine and he quickly did a bow.

"Of course not, Master. It would be an honor for you to study their training," the feline quickly turned to the reptilians, who all nodded with more fear than respect.

"Good," without a word, Oroku turned around and headed out the door. He went up some stairs outside the dojo to arrive at his balcony, where he had a chair, or more like a throne, and sat down, leaning his head on one hand.

The brothers got to their feet and looked at each other, fear in their eyes. Mikey kept glancing around, worried, until he felt an arm on his shoulder. Looking to the left, he saw Raph giving a semi-assuring smile. 'It'll be okay.'

"Begin!"

* * *

Raph and Mikey charged in first, seemingly heading towards Leo. The leader prepared himself and was ready to block, when the attacking duo changed direction and rushed Donnie. Taken by a bit of surprise, the brainy turtle hardly had time to block with his staff. Michelangelo's nunchucks swirled around the wood and the younger turtle pulled back, driving the weapon from his brother's hands. Raphael was already in the air, wanting to deliver a finishing kick, when a pair of katans got in the way. For a second, the hot-head seemed to stay on the blades, before pushing off and landing a few steps away. Not missing a beat, Leo charged at the second oldest turtle and engaged in battle, leaving a disarmed Donatello to deal with the youngest one.

Tiger Claw gave a small nod in approval at Leo's save, but one look at the Shredder and the feline frowned. The Master didn't seem impressed – if anything, he looked annoyed. The human, still leaning his head on one hand, was also tapping his finger on the throne arm. That was never a good sign…

Don jumped back to avoid the nunchuck aimed at his plastron and dropped to the ground to avoid the other one. Using his arms, the taller turtle blocked a kick and pushed it back, making his younger brother stumble for a moment. But that was enough for the brainy brother to roll over, past Mikey, and get a hold of his staff. Armed again, he stood straight, the bo pointed at his brother who gave a grin back.

Leo noted that Raph seemed off his game today – then again, he was sparring with Xever not too long ago. But still. The hot-head seemed too wild, too out of control – more than usual. The attacks were ferocious, but uncoordinated, so they were easy to block. After three more blocks, Leonardo delivered a kick to his brother's side, but the sai user caught his leg with his arms. Realizing his mistake, the leader tried to break free, but couldn't, and Raph spun around, dragging his brother along, before releasing him and letting the oldest reptilian fly towards the nearest wall.

" _Well done,_ " Tiger said to himself, allowing a small moment of pride. That was a move only Raphael had managed to master, as it took a lot of strength. And this time, even the Shredder was impressed, for a moment, as he stopped tapping his finger.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mesacat13 is still the person behind the idea sooooo Lover her yeah? Good! And a quick update - I probably won't be posting at all on friedays because they are hella long. Yeah.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go! After this chapter, the next ones are going to be... slower. School finally kicked in and I'm not your perfect student, so yeah...

 

Leo, getting to his feet as quickly as he could, glared at his younger brother. Or wanted to anyway. He saw Raph was gone from where he last saw him, and joined Mikey against Donnie. The taller brother was at a clear disadvantage, and with Leonardo temporarily out of the way, he was disarmed and knocked down in a minute.

"Donatello – out," Tiger Claw called as the brainy turtle lay on his shell, Michelangelo sitting on his plastron while Raph held his staff. With a hung head, Don stood up, accepted the staff back and walked to sit by their trainer. He dared not look at the Shredder, not even a glance, but he could feel the human's disapproving eyes burning into his shell.

The younger two turned to their older brother, both grinning. Now it was two against one and this was going to be a breeze. Or so they thought…

When Raph charged in, feeling all too confidant, Leo dropped to the ground, letting his brother jump over his body. With a momentary surprise, Fearless moved forward, towards Mikey, who was coming up after the hot-head.

The youngest prepared himself for the attack, spreading his nunchuck for the block. Leo, increasing his speed, suddenly jumped in the air, using the wooden weapons as a board to propel himself higher in the air. Looking in awe, Mikey didn't really have time to react before his oldest brother came crashing down, right atop of him. With the hyper ninja on the ground, Fearless used his katana to slap the weapons out of his grasp and gave a grin.

"Michelangelo – out," Tiger Claw said again. The said turtle let out a sigh, gave a small pout and picked up his weapons before joining his second youngest brother. He too, didn't look at the Shredder but knew the man was displeased.

And now, it was one on one. And the eldest two none the less. Both brothers stood and circled each other, gripping their weapons tighter and trying to catch their breath. Whoever made the first move loses. And yet, they both moved at the same time. Each one was ready to take down the other, already planning two steps ahead. But, just as they were about to clash, both were blocked and metal scratched against metal.

All the mutant's eyes went wide open as suddenly; the metal-clad ninja stood in the middle of the dojo, his long, glove blades blocking the katans and sais. Leo and Raph were frozen in shock; their weapons pressed against the metal and couldn't breathe. What was going on?

* * *

"Master?" Tiger Claw had taken a step forward, shocked. The Shredder said nothing, only pushed back both turtles, making them skid across the wooden floor.

"A ninja must be prepared for anything," the human's cold and hard voice sounded annoyed as he lowered his arms. The two ninjas he pushed back, swallowed hard, sharing a look with their trainer and each other.

"What are you waiting for?! Attack!" Saki hissed.

Without thinking, Raph and Leo charged forward, just wanting to do what the man says rather that thinking about how to do it. Their attacks, as weak and confused as they were, had no effect on the Shredder – other than making him angry.

"Weak!" the leaders attack was blocked, before receiving a kick to the plastron.

"Slow!" the hot-heads jump made the man raise his arm, blocking, and grabbed him by the throat. As soon as he saw Leo back on his feet, Saki hurled Raph at him, sending both brothers crashing into a wall.

"You two!" Oroku turned to Mikey and Donnie, who looked in fear. "Join your brothers!" it was a simple order, yet the man's anger made the two scurry to their feet. Tiger Claw could do nothing but watch.

The elder two helped each other to their feet, already bruised and tired, yet they stood their ground. The four reptilians now surrounded the Master, yet they were all fearful. The human simply looked annoyed and displeased.

"Attack!"

* * *

To Tiger, the battle looked like a small, newborn cub trying to climb up a large tree. An impossibility. And every time the cub tried, it failed, hurting itself. It was a hard thing to watch, yet he remained still.

No matter how hard the brothers came at the Master, it was all pointless. Their attacks meant nothing to him – especially Donnie's wooden staff. Only the metal-weapon using brother made the man move now and then, to avoid their sharp edges. But even when all four attacked at once, just like their sensei taught them, the Shredder blocked them one by one, hardly breaking a sweat. And it wasn't until about two hours later of their constant attacking, that the leader realized something. But before he could actually word it, everything changed…

One moment, Mikey is trying to kick the man, and in the next, Saki is holding him by the leg, gripping it tight. The older brothers wanted to come and help, but the Master changed everything. Instead of throwing his captured turtle, he raised his bladed arm and seemed ready to swing it at the youngest mutant. In fact, he did swing, and only Raph's reckless not care for himself kept Michelangelo unharmed. Instead, the second oldest took the attack and it sliced his left forearm, leaving two, long, bleeding marks.

Everyone was shocked and Raphael's scream was burned into his brothers' ears. The blood dripped on the ground and then, the Shredder kicked both mutants away. A trail of red liquid followed and flew across the air at the same time as Raph.

"He hasn't even been attacking back…" Leonardo finally had a moment to say, his hands hurting from holding the katanas for so long. Neither of the standing turtles knew what to do – should they rush to their brother's aid or continue the fight?

"Raph? Raph?!" Mikey called, panicking over his brother's wounded arm. The second oldest held in another scream and had his eyes closed from the pain. The blood flowing out wasn't stopping and it looked really bad.

"I'm okay…" the hot-head said weakly, taking a few deep breathes and bracing himself on the wall to help him stand.

"Dude, you got sliced!" the youngest worried eyes went from the wound, to the blood on the ground, to the pained brother's expression. "… For me…" he added quietly.

"Don't worry," Raph managed a weak smile and used the straps around his fingers to tie it around his wound. The bandage was quickly wet and turned a bit red, but it held.

"C'mon, we gotto… help Leo and Don."

* * *

The other two reptilians weren't having it any easier and had resorted to mostly evading the fierce, powerful and deadly attacks. Some blood was still on the Shredder's left bladed arm as he swung it around, making the two really uneasy. And due to that, Donatello wasn't paying attention and walked over the trail of blood, slipping on it and losing balance. Saki quickly took advantage and rushed, his clean blades aimed at his chest, only to be blocked by a pair of katanas. Fearless was gritting his teeth in focus as he tried to hold back the attack, but the metal-clad man was far too strong and broke his block.

" _He wasn't even taking this seriously,_ " was the only thing Leo could think before the blade of the gauntlet sliced at his right side. He could feel the sting as it sliced a bit under his right eye and could feel the liquid drip down his face. He didn't scream – it wasn't that bad, but he winced and that was all the Master needed to deliver a few punches in his gut, sending him flying straight into his younger brother. Both landed on the ground and the man calmly walked over to them, blades raised.

" _Is this training… or is it his hatred for Hamato Yoshi?_ " Tiger thought in fear as he watched the Shredder approach his students. And he couldn't do anything…

Raph and Mikey were back in the game, both coming from the same side in a flying kick. They actually managed to knock the human back a few steps as they landed the attack. With Saki backed off, the two landed on the ground, panting and wincing from all their wounds, yet seemed determine to fight.

"Leo, Don, get up! We ain't done yet!" Raph called, his wounded hand shaking as he hardly held his sai. Mikey was scared as his eyes went from the Shredder to his brothers.

"Right…" the two on the ground groaned and got to their feet, panting as well. Leo didn't even have time to close his wound as the blood ran down his face. They were all determined and it was their determination that made Saki so mad. They reminded him of Yoshi so much, even after everything he's done to try break them!

" _Why won't you break!?_ " he yelled in his mind as he moved with such speed, even Tiger Claw couldn't see when he appeared behind the turtles. They could feel his ominous presence behind their shells and couldn't move. They were rooted in fear. And in a few seconds, all four of them were on the ground, by the human's feet, disarmed.

Luckily, Mikey and Donnie seemed unwounded, unlike their brothers, whose blood was still littered all over the dojo.

"Pathetic," Saki spit out, glaring down at the ninjas. None of them moved – none could. Everything hurt. They just wanted to sleep. Why won't the man just go already… they knew Tiger would stop for today, give them a break. He was kind like that…

"This is worse than I imagined…" Oroku added as he stepped past the fallen kids. They were all disappointed in themselves, yet relived he was finally leaving.

"From now on, I shall be taking over their training. Such weakness will not be tolerated," the man added as he left the dojo.

None of the mutants moved. No one breathed. Tiger Claw was in shock and the turtles seemed paralyzed by the human's words. He'd take over their training? Everything would be like this from now on? No, that… that was wrong. They misheard him. They were just imagining it. It was a mistake. Tiger would never-

"I am sorry cubs…" the trainer's words made them all cry. None of them had done that in a long, long time, but now… they just couldn't help. They were going to keep suffering like this? Getting hurt and beaten on a daily basis? No…

* * *

Later that night, when the brothers were in the showers getting themselves cleaned up, they were all silent. As Donnie properly bandaged Raph's arm and cleaned Leo's wound, neither spoke. Not even Mikey, who was usually cheerful, said much, simply stood under the shower, his head leaned on the cool stone wall.

"Let's hope that holds…" Donatello said quietly as he finished Raphael's bandage. Without much else, the brainy turtle left the shower – he was the first done and didn't want to stay here and longer. He headed towards his lab and stopped by the door – he needs to go to bed. No way can he stay up as late as he did so far with Shredder's training.

"Mikey…" Leo whispered, checking on the youngest brother.

"Yeah… I'm… I'm headin' to bed…" the usually hyper ninja's tone was sad and gloomy as he dried himself off and exited he showers as well.

Now, only the eldest two remained. They looked at each other, at their wounds and the ones their brother had. Raph was sitting on a chair, leaning on his knees while Leo stood, hands over his plastron.

"…We can't let him hurt them…" the younger of the two stated – there was no hesitation and the tone didn't allow 'buts' or 'ifs'.

"Agreed. We'll need to watch their backs more, as well as our own," the older one nodded, his eyes never leaving Raph's.

"Are we going to survive this?"

"…I don't know Raph… I really don't know…"

That night, none of them could sleep properly. Mikey kept seeing the Shredder hurt and even kill his brothers as he stood helplessly by. Donnie kept imagining the horrible wounds he would have to take care of, from puncture wounds to missing limbs. Raph couldn't help thinking about how many times he's going to save his brothers, taking all the damage on himself. Leo hated how he couldn't protect his brothers from this, from this training, and just hoped they could all handle what it would bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam. This is where everything goes just... down into the ground. Meaning, get ready for some suffering - I'm always great at that! =D  
> Hope you liked it and if you did, do tell! I love to hear what you think! ^^


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go! New chapter! Wop wop!   
> Thanks for all the support and the amazing comments everyone - you rock! =D (and I love you sooo much!)   
> Just a quick warning - these chapters are going to start getting really dark and bloody.
> 
> Read, review and enjoy ^^

 

"Again," the voice was cold, empty yet demanding as he panted, his hands trembling from the constant use. With gritted teeth, he moved again, trying to land the punches, only for the man to evade.

"Again!" closing his eyes from the pain, he needed a moment to catch his breath. He couldn't even feel his legs any more. How long had he being at this? How many times had he tried to do the impossible? His few moments of a breather were quickly stopped; he heard the metal gauntlets extend their blades. He knew what was going to happen – he's seen it before. He just didn't have the energy anymore.

"I said," the man was behind him and he could see the shadow loom over him. "Again!" the blades came down and he held in the scream as he felt them across his shell.

He fell on his knees, supporting himself on his hands. He was panting, no, hyperventilating – he couldn't think, couldn't see anymore. Everything was a blur. He just wanted to drop down. Sleep. Maybe forever.

"Perhaps I should try this with one of your brothers."

His heart skipped a beat. Brothers. Drag his brothers into this? No! He's doing this **for** his brothers. So they can rest after today's training. He let out a sound – a growl – and stood up shakily. Everything hurt. His arms and legs were numb, small cuts here and there. His shell stung from the recent attack and from the many punches he got there. But still, he stood. For his brothers.

"Good. Attack again!"

* * *

"He's still not back…" Mikey whispered, hugging his legs as he sat with his shell against the wall. His chin rested on his knees and his scarf was wrapped around his head.

"It's been three hours…" Donnie stood by his lab equipment, but couldn't work. He tried to distract himself, to work or do something while they waited, but he couldn't.

"That means he's still going… He's still fighting…" Leo sat on a chair nearby, both his brothers within arm's reach, looking at the door and waiting for someone to step through it.

"You think he's okay?" the youngest knew the answer to that, but he wanted one of his brothers to lie. To say everything was fine.

"…After what happened in training this morning, I don't know…" the tallest turtle said with a ping of guilt, seeing his brothers' expressions. He wasn't helping anyone…

"I just want to know how long it's going to last…" the leader let out a shaky breath, closing his eyes for a second, as this morning's training came to mind…

* * *

_Three hours ago_

" _Is this all the endurance you four have?" Saki hissed as he saw the panting turtles. They were unarmed this time, working on their kicks and punches. But what does it matter, when you enemy is a ninja master dressed in a dumpster?_

" _Master… we've been… at this… all morning…" Leo tried to reason with the man, but as for the past month since he's taken on the turtles, the human didn't listen._

" _And you will continue to do it until you have learned!"_

" _This is… ridiculous!" Raph hissed back, taking a step forward and growling. "This training is… insane! Tiger Claw knew how to… train us better!" the hot-head wasn't thinking, he was just too mad, too tired. But his brothers knew. And they looked in fear._

" _What was that?" the Shredder narrowed his eyes, his voice threateningly low._

" _We're not some ninja robots! Do you want to kill us?!" in a second, Raphael was pinned on the ground, a blade at his throat._

" _You_ _ **dare**_ _speak to me in such a tone?! I should kill you for your disrespect!" the other three knew nothing they say or do will help their brother now._

" _Go ahead! You're gonna kill us either way!"_

_Silence. There was next to no sound in the dojo as the Master stared down at the pinned reptilian, his eyes narrow and menacing. Yet Raph glared back as well, anger and hate burning deep in them. His brothers stood motionless, just waiting for it all to end. Mikey had closed his eyes, not wanting to see his brother's death._

_But it never came. Instead, Oroku stepped off the hot-head and addressed the trio without even looking at them._

" _It would seem I must teach you respect again. You three, leave us. Your brother has given you freedom – for as long as he can handle what comes next."_

* * *

He landed on the ground hard, breaking the wood apart. His breath got knocked out of him and he couldn't move. It hurt to just take in air. But he managed. He crawled on his knees and slowly on his feet, almost taking a tumble as he did.

"Still able to stand…" Shredder said, a small, very small, hint of impression in his voice.

"Anytn'… for 'em…" the words were weak and he could barely talk, but he would remain defiant to the end.

"It would seem so," Saki retracted the blades and walked closer to the younger ninja. Raph, fearing what was going on, took a step back.

"Clearly fighting you isn't a fitting punishment. You are stronger than your brothers, more durable and willing to take on the hurt…" as the Shredder moved closer, the hot head backed away, not looking where he was heading.

"With that in mind… what would be a perfect punishment then?" Raph felt his shell hit the wall and his stomach dropped. Trapped. What now?

"Ah yes, I know… Isolation," somehow, even though he couldn't see under the metal mask, the mutant knew Saki was smirking.

"You shall stay here until I see it fit for you to leave," the Shredder said as he pushed Raph into a small, dark room. The turtle couldn't see anything and before he knew it, the door behind him was slammed shut. He couldn't hear, couldn't see and due to everything that happened less than ten minutes ago, he couldn't feel.

His eyes darted around the room, trying to see anything, but not even his green arm was visible in the pitch darkness. Turning around, Raph reached for the door and felt the bump where it opened, yet there was no handle. This thing can only be opened from the outside and the door was sealed by the bumps so no light could get in.

" _This… isn't so bad…_ " the hot-head said to himself and walked into the room, hands outstretched. He walked until he felt a wall and moved with his shell against it, sliding down and sitting. He was exhausted and this darkness seemed soothing at the moment, so he just closed his eyes. There wasn't much of a difference anyway. He was fully prepared to sleep, when a thought pushed all other things aside.

"Where was the Shredder going?" Raph could imagine the metal-clad ninja going on with his own thing, but he knew that was too simple. Maybe… maybe he went back for his brothers. After all, he did say they had freedom for as long as he could handle his punishment.

"Guys!" the sai user called, already on his feet. He walked over, trying to find the door again, but he couldn't. And calling was pointless – he was probably far away from all of them. But he couldn't help but try…

"Mikey! Leo! Don! Guys, can you hear me!" he started to panic as he couldn't find the door and moved faster, ignoring his pain. He staggered around the small room until he crashed into a wall and felt dizzy.

"Is anyone out there?" he called, his tone desperate. He was so worried and he had no way of knowing where his brothers were. His body rejected his continuation of movement and he collapsed onto the ground. There was nothing but darkness everywhere and Raph curled up in his shell, shaking. This was so much worse than any beating Saki could inflict…

* * *

All three of them snapped their eyes to the door when it opened and were surprise to see the feline mutant standing there. It's been over six hours now, and none of them had really left the lab. Any food they needed, they got a Foot Soldier to bring. And since it was a lab, there were things which would distract them if needed. But it wasn't, because all of them were far too worried about their still-missing brother.

"Tiger Claw!" Leo felt weird, not using 'sensei' for the older mutant, but he's grown used to it by now.

"Any word about Raph?" Donatello called, a bit louder that he wanted. His worry and anxiety was seeping through his calm demeanor.

"…Come with me," Tiger said that, and only that, before turning and walking out of the lab. The brothers, sharing a look, wasted no time moving after their former trainer.

They followed silently, but matched Tiger's quick pace. Leo had his hands in fists, jaw locked and eyes focused. Donnie was biting on his lip, looking around to spot anything that would show Shredder was nearby. Mikey kept glancing at his brothers and the feline, swallowing every so often. All three turtles felt something off about this…

Suddenly, the former trained stopped and the students followed suit. This hall… they've never been here before. It was a 'closed off' part of the place. But they saw a door on their left, closed off and sealed.

"Tiger Claw, what is this?" Leo asked before the said mutant put up his paw. He pointed at his ears and then at the door. The brothers shared a look before Mikey moved over to the door and leaned on the side of his head – he was listening. He frowned for a second before his eyes opened wide and he almost jumped away from the door.

"Mikey?" Don asked, worried about what scared his brother.

"No… You gotto be kidding me…" the youngest let out, his eyes going to the tiger.

"…No…" Leonardo whispered, putting two and two together.

"Raph?!" he yelled, smacking at the door, eyes wide with fear. His brother was in this? What was happening to him?!

"…Leo…?" it was a weak, weary whisper from the other side of the door, but one hundred percent the second oldest.

"What is he doing here?" Fearless turned, anger in his eyes and voice, towards Tiger Claw, who remained cool and calm.

"The Shredder's punishment. He has deemed the time to let him out. The responsibility was mine, and I give that to you now," without further words, the oldest mutant left the turtles.

"…Thank you, sensei…" the three understood what he had done and bowed deeply as the former trainer turned a corner.

"Raph, you alright?" Donatello asked when they opened the door. They only saw the small bit of the room, which was illuminated by the light from the hall. Their brother was curled up in a corner, looking weak, tired and shocked to see them.

"You guys… you're okay!" the hot-head gave one of the most grateful smiles they've ever seen. In moment, he was on his feet, pulling all three into a hug.

"Yeah, yeah, we're good Raph… all thanks to you…"

"What happened? What made the Shredder so mad at you?"

"Ask later; get him to the lab now. I see wounds I don't like."

* * *

"So… you took on the Master, for three hours? Dude! That's like, most amazing thing ever! And he couldn't knock you down enough!" Mikey was smiling, seeing his older brother as a sort of hero now.

"Yeah well, the beatings were better than that room…" Raph gave a weak smiled, rubbing his shoulder. There was a slash across it, which was patched now.

"You're lucky none of the wounds got infected! These wounds should have been treated hours ago!" Donnie was annoyed, yet it came from worry and they all knew it.

"Sorry, was a bit hard when I couldn't even feel my hands," the half smile made the brainy turtle sigh and rub his face.

"Well, what you did was stupid, reckless and it almost got you killed!" Leo called him out, hands folded over his plastron. "…Don't ever scare us like that again," Fearless' expression turned soft and worried as he gently set a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, right… No promises," both knew Raph would do anything to help his brothers in any way he could. Even if it meant getting bloodied, beaten and scarred. And nothing Leo said would change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam! So yeah, this comes straight from MesaCat13 - Raph's fear and all. Feel free to ask me or her anything you wanna know (so long as it's not spoilers)   
> As for Mikey's arm...   
> It's coming... coming soon (not that soon but well, in a few chapters) and it's going to be (hopefully) sadistic as hell! I'm good at that ;)  
> Till next time~


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, weee  
> I’m not sure how often they’ll be coming, but I’m trying my best. And yeah, any reviews/comments or anything really gets the motivation flowing =P

 

 

“Tell me again why you failed so miserably?” the man was far too calm for the news he just received and it made the four figures bowing in front of him tense up.

“…We were outnumbered… Michelangelo and Raphael were wounded so I pulled us out. The failure for the missions is solely mine,” Leonardo explained, eyes closed as he fought to keep his voice calm.

“Excuses!” the Shredder yelled, making the reptilians wince. “The failure does rest on you, Leonardo, but it was caused by all of your weakness!” the metal-clad ninja stood up and took a few steps closer to the ninjas. “Even after two months you have yet to show much progress! Some of you even dare to oppose me!” his eyes landed on Raph, who glared for a few moments, before looking away.

“This was our second missions, and we went without Tiger Claw! Not only that, there was hardly any chance of us completing a mission as we were!” Fearless called back, his voice tight and strained so he wasn’t too loud.

“You are a ninja – a warrior! You should always fight to the end, no matter the cost!”

“Not at the cost of my brothers’ lives! Raph was right back then – you are trying to kill us!” none of the turtles have been getting much sleep since Saki took over their training, but Leo was having the worst time. And that was showing now – even the resident hot-head thought his brother was going too far. Especially when he dragged his name in it…

* * *

“Seeing as you share your brother’s point so strongly, perhaps you’d like to share his punishment as well!” Oroku held the leader by the throat in a moment. Donnie and Mikey had to hold back Raph to keep him from charging at the Master.

“Bring the little one along – get the other two out of my sight,” Foot Soldiers stepped in and took hold of the three brothers – they dragged the middle two away and out of the throne room. The sai user was screaming at the Shredder and tried to fight back, but more soldiers joined in and pulled him out. Once beyond the door, the hot-head was going to rush back in, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Xever! Lemme go!” he hissed before seeing Tiger Claw was there as well, holding Donnie back and away from the Foot Soldiers.

“There is nothing you can do now, Raphael. Release your anger elsewhere,” Tiger said.

“Yes friend, come. It’s best you not be here when it starts… whatever _it_ is,” Montes added and nodded to the side.

“He’s not going to kill them, right?” Donatello asked, looking at the former trainer.

“No, he won’t… He wishes to punish Leonardo – for that, he shall hurt Michelangelo.”

* * *

“What are you doing?!” Leo yelled as three ninjas came up and held him tight at the side while two more brought Mikey before the Shredder.

“As different as you all, you all deserve different punishments,” Saki’s eyes were locked on the small turtle, who shook in fear. “This is yours,” in the next second, Mikey was on the ground, the Master’s foot on his throat.

“No! Stop! Don’t hurt him! It’s me you want to punish!” Leonard screamed as he was held back, trying to fight his way to his brother.

“This **is** how I punish you!” setting his foot off the ninja’s throat, Saki grabbed him by his arm and pulled him up. “Until you learn your place, your brothers shall suffer the consequences!” with the suspended turtle in one hand, Shredder used his free one to deliver several punches to his plastron.

Michelangelo had the air knocked out of his lungs and fought for breath, while trying to be as silent as he could. He didn’t want to help Shredder hurt his brother with screams. His body went limp in the grasp as Saki dropped him onto the cold ground.

“Disrespect!” a kick to the side sent the hurt ninja rolling to the side.

“Disobedience!” the Master walked towards the youngest and pressed his foot on his plastron, pressing down hard.

“Weakness!” Mikey finally screamed as he almost felt his shell crack, the pain too great to hold back. His eyes were misty, but he didn’t want to beg.

“ **Stop it!** ” Leo’s scream was heard throughout the whole floor. The leader finally understood Raphael’s anger and rage – this is how he always felt. Every time one of his brothers was in trouble, this is how it felt. And Leo didn’t want to stop it – he allowed the anger out and threw off the four soldiers holding him.

* * *

“What the shell is he going to them?!” Raph demanded, glaring at Xever and Tiger Claw who had remained with him and Donnie. They were moved to the dojo where they could let out some frustration, yet nothing could really calm the hot-head.

“I don’t…” Don put a hand over his mouth and doubled over, feeling sick. That made his older brother snap out of his rage and was by his side in a moment.

“Donnie, you okay? Talk to me bro!” his voice was panicked as everything seemed to go to hell right now.

“I’m okay…” the taller turtle nodded and took a deep breath. “Just worried…”

“Yeah… me to…”

* * *

Oroku had to step away from Mikey when Leo attacked. The force behind the kick was strong enough to stagger him, but the metal-clad man quickly recovered. He glared down at the oldest turtle, who returned the look tenfold.

“Leo…” Michelangelo’s weak voice called, cracking even, as he saw his brother standing protectively at his side.

“I see you have finally gathered enough courage to attack,” Saki spoke evenly, extending his gauntlet blades.

“Anything for my brothers,” Fearless’ voice was low and hard, yet it struck a nerve in the Master. Raphael had said the same back then…

“Yes, that seems to be a habit for you brothers,” his tone changed, more annoyed and menacing now as the two stared each other down.

“If you want to hurt me, hurt me! Don’t use my brothers for it!” anger still boiled inside Leonardo as he charged forward, his katanas at the ready.

“As you wish!” Shredder blocked the attack and twirled his wrist, quickly disarming one of Leo’s weapons. With only one katana now, the mutant jumped back and held it with both hands, remembering a different style of fighting.

“Show me your rage, Leonardo, so that I may obliterate it!” this time, the Master was on the attack and forced the leader back step by step.

 

Leonardo was quickly overwhelmed and was hardly keeping his hands up. His mind, a bit calmer now, was unfocused and uncoordinated – something the eldest turtle was not used to dealing with. He was the one who always had a plan, and was trying to come up with one on the fly. But due to that, he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings and before he knew it, he tripped over the steps at Shredder’s throne. As he landed on his shell, he tried to block the attack, but was too unbalanced and the blades went past his defense. In the following moment, he felt the cold steel slice his neck – over the collar bone – leaving a long, bleeding gash. He screamed, before muffling it as blood rushed out. He went with one hand to try and cover it up, but it hardly helped. Another blade from the other hand was aimed at his face, but the reptilian released his weapon and caught the blade between his fingers. It was only his instant which allowed him that, as all pain was forgotten in that moment. Saki opened his eyes wide and seemed frozen for a moment – he recalled a fight with Yoshi where this similar situation happened. With a growl, he kicked the wounded mutant, making him caught up some saliva and twist in pain.

“It would seem your anger is lesser than that of Raphael. It dies quickly, yet you have more control over it…” Saki stood over the fallen ninja, his cold eyes piercing. Leo tried his best to glare back, but with one hand over his bleeding wound and the other shaking from pain, it was a weak attempt.

“Hmm… yes… That would actually be an interesting session…” Oroku said, clearly to himself, as he turned his back to Leonardo. Fearless thought it was finally over, until he saw the Master walking towards Mikey, who was still on the ground.

“Get these two to Donatello. He should be able to take care of the wounds,” the nearby Foot Ninjas moved in and first picked up Michelangelo, before moving to his older brother. Fearless moved away from the help at first, not wanting to be grabbed as harshly as before, but they were very persistent.

* * *

When the Foot Soldier came into the dojo, Xever had to pull Raphael back from jumping at the man in anger. Tiger Claw and Donnie had taken to talking with him, and by the expressions they had, it was bad.

“They require medical attention. They were brought to your laboratory and await you,” the man finished off, gave a bow and disappeared.

“Medical attention!? What did he do?!”

“Raph, calm down! Keeping screaming like that and you’ll do more harm than good! Your amigos are fine!”

“FINE?! The Shredder brutalized them! That ain’t fine!”

“Let’s just go! At least this time, the wounds can be taken care of properly! And Raph, if you don’t shut up, you’re not coming inside!”

“What? Don, are you nuts?!”

“He is correct Raphael. Your brothers need rest and your temper will not allow that.”

“…” the hot-head closed his eyes and did a few deep breaths, calming down.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” he looked up at the three comrades.

“It’s fine Raph. Just… keep cool, okay?” Donnie set a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’ll try…”

* * *

“The wound isn’t deep, but it goes all the way to your plastron…” the brainy turtle said as he examined his eldest brother’s wound. He bandaged it up and cleaned the wound.

“And _you_ are lucky to only have bruises… Some of these look like they could have broken bones,” he added, gently adding some medicine on Mikey’s wounds.

“Damn him! Suck a weak move to take it out on Mikey just to get to Leo!” Raph growled and kicked over a chair, earning a glare from the tallest turtle.

“…Mikey,” Leonardo said softly and quietly, looking with tired eyes at his little brother. “I’m so, so sorry…” everyone stilled as Fearless closed his eyes.

“I never should have said what I did… If had just kept my mouth shut then-!” Leo clenched his fists and locked his jaw. He was so mad at himself – what kind of brother does that? Puts his younger siblings at risk because he loses his temper? Not even Raph is that bad!

“Leo,” the youngest mutant set a hand on his older brother’s shoulder. “Bro, it’s fine. It’s not your fault – Shredder did this. ‘Sides, you’re the one who got really hurt,” Michelangelo gave a weak, yet kind smile, making his siblings smile as well.

“Thank you, Mikey. And I promise, I won’t ever let that happen again,” Leonardo pulled the smallest mutant into a hug, squeezing gently to not harm him anymore. “I won’t let it happen to anyone – any of you. I promise,” he looked over at the other two turtles, who gave nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, after all the time, it’d a miracle if no one following this has checked out @mesacat13 but still, if you haven’t - do it! Thanks! 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go people! The mission which kills! Warnings as usual: blood, gore, death, panic.  
> Hope you all enjoy ^^

 

"Hun has informed that some of his Purple Dragons have defected and are trying to steal from me again. Cleary they haven't learned from last time. This time however, I am not so forgiving. Find these fools and eliminate them. Leave no survivors," the turtles felt their blood run cold. Did he just… order them to kill? Leo and Raph wanted to say something about it, but quickly recalled their punishments.

"Are we understood?" Saki questioned when none of them said anything back.

"Yes, master," they all spoke quickly, bowing their heads before they were dismissed. They haven't really been on many missions, and on the few they have been, they've never killed. Tiger Claw taught them well to control their strength – Raphael had a few problems with that at times – so they never did kill. And yet, now that was the task.

* * *

"This is the place," Donnie said, using his scanner to find the targets. He had one foot on the edge of the rooftop, leaning on it to get a better view as he kept adjusting the scanner. He had a red hood in comparison to the scarfs his brothers had, as it hung over his head.

"There are two in the truck, four in the warehouse, two at the back and three on the roof," the tallest turtle added, glancing at his brothers. Leo stood behind him; arms folded across his plastron, eyes focused and narrow. He had his scarf almost up to his mouth as it twisted in the air. Raph was sitting left of the two, his shell against the edge of the rooftop and one knee pulled him. He seemed itching to crack some skulls as he pulled on the red scarf, moving if a bit away from his neck. Mikey was sitting on the edge right to the duo, his feet dangling down as he played with his scarf, giving a grin. He was looking forward to actually kicking some but instead of getting his own kicked. In fact, all four of them were glad to be up against someone they knew they can handle.

"So, how are we doin' this Fearless Leader?" Raphael asked, glancing at the oldest turtle.

"We split up. Don you take the two in the truck and make sure they can't get away. Raph, you got the warehouse – if you destroy anything along the way, great. Mikey-," the leader was interrupted by his youngest brother.

"I get the three on the roof!" he was on his feet, giving a wide and somewhat wicked grin.

"…Fine, but be careful. If you need help, I'm at the back," Leo saw no point in arguing, so he let the hyper ninja have his wish.

"Yes! Don't worry Leo, I'm like a shadow!" that comment was followed by a smack and a small yelp.

"You're anything _but_ a shadow Mikey," Raph stood next to the smallest mutant, an annoyed frown on his face. "Let's just get started! I so need to punch someone's teeth in."

* * *

"Damn, how much longer is this gonna take? I don't like this…" one of the two goons muttered, tapping his foot on the ground as he leaned on the truck

"Relax would ya? They're just gettin' everything. The place it huge!" the other one laughed, hands folded over his chest and sitting in the truck with the door open.

Neither of the two was paying much attention to their surroundings, so they didn't pick up on the shadow sneaking around the truck. Donatello cast a quick look around,saw his three brothers heading to their designated locations and narrowed his eyes to focus. His third eyelid even came down, turning his usually spice-brown eyes, white. Silent like the ninja he is, Donnie turned to the truck and opened the hood carefully. He inspected the engine and did his magic, quietly breaking it. He was quite content with his work and grinned. He's gotten very good at these kinds of things, especially in the short time he's been dealing with them. He always was and will be, proud of his smarts.

* * *

Raphael snuck across the ground with the shadows, coming up to a warehouse window and climbed in. He landed quietly on the ground with a crouch, eyes already covered by his third eyelid. He was gripping his sais as he moved to the nearest box and looked around it, trying to get a better view of the place.

"C'mon mates move it! We need this place empty! After that, we get outta this city and live the life we deserve!" the apparent man in charge called with a grin, watching as the other three worked on the crates and boxes.

"Easy for you to say Weasel," a skinny red-head grumbled, pushing the crate with the others.

"Just do it!" Raph gripped his weapons tighter, turning his knuckles white from the grip. These guys were perfect… finally he can actually take down someone! After all the training with Shredder, he started feeling weak and the he had a few new scars to prove his brothers were getting their shells kicked. But now… now he could let it all out.

* * *

Michelangelo jumped across the few rooftops until he was just a few jumps away from the warehouse. Before going there, he dropped down and made his way across the alley, moving towards the fire escape. He climbed the ladder quickly and quietly until he was by the edge of the roof. Poking his head over the edge, he saw his three targets walking around, each one armed with a gun.

"Why do we need to be here again?" a blonde with spikey hair asked, standing at the edge by the corner of the roof.

"'Cause last time a bunch of freaks in frog costumes came. They work for the Shredder so they're bound to come 'round here eventually," a raven-haired dude answered, rolling his eyes and checking the other side.

"I heard they do Kung Fu or something and use relics as weapons," another blonde with a few strands of black laughed.

"Oh, I'll just show you how deadly these relic using Kung Fu frogs are," Mikey smirked as he said to himself, pulling out his nunchucks and readying himself for an attack.

* * *

Leonardo made sure all his brothers got to their locations before moving out himself. So far so good – no one has seen them. And no one probably would. At least, not until it was too late. He kept thinking about what the Master said… They were supposed to kill these men, and yet, he doubted anyone of them would. As he ran in the darkness towards the back, he thought how his brothers would handle taking a life…

Raph would probably be the least effected and just might kill them in his anger. Donnie might try and finish it quickly; he was never one for taking things slow. And Mikey… he probably wouldn't be able to do it, yet if he did, it might change him-

Leo shook his head of that thought and collected himself. No, if anyone shouldn't kill, it's their youngest. He was still somewhat innocent, given how they all grew up, and as his oldest brother, Leo had a duty to make sure that's how it stayed.

With white eyes and a silent promise, Fearless ran to the back, seeing the two standing by the door, looking bored as shell. They had guns, but he had his katanas – they never should have brought guns to a ninja fight.

* * *

The first sound he made got the attention of everyone in the warehouse. His growl seemed to echo off the walls as the four humans turned in his direction.

"What the hell is that?!" a brunette called, his hands shaking as they held the gun.

"It's them – those mutant freaks! Kill it!" Weasel yelled, waving his weapon around. His boys aimed and fired, but the turtle simply jumped over the rain of bullets, letting out an angry roar as he ran straight into the red-head. The guy hit the ground hard, gasping for air and dropped his weapon. He looked in fear at the mutant as his eyes seemed to burn with hellfire and threatened to consume every living being here.

Raph raised his sai, not really looking at anything. His eyes were glazed over by red, hot rage as all the frustration, pain, anger and humiliation were finally let lose. Before he could actually deliver the final blow, a bullet grazed his arm and he jumped away from the red-head, growling again at the brunette who shot him.

With high speed, the ninja was next to the shooter and he soon found himself kicked into a crate, breaking it. Splinters went flying everywhere and the man impaled himself on a dagger in the crate. His blood flew from his chest as he went limp and his companions watched in horror. They backed away from the raging animal, fearing for their lives.

The sai user didn't care who was next – so long as he could take it down or out. So he charged again, his weapons extended as he ran the blonde of the four through. Without losing momentum, he rushed for the leader who was shaking in fear.

"H-Hey now mate, w-why can't we talk 'bout this? I'm – I'm sure your Master would prefer some business-!" before the human could finish, the mutant knocked him to the ground, growling in his face as he started punching.

"He. Is. Not. My. Master!" he said each word as he delivered a punch and went on, until he felt a sticky liquid on his hands. It was then, finally, the hot-head snapped out of his rage and took in quick, ragged breathes. He looked around – blood – and looked at himself – blood. His mind was spinning as he got off the beaten body and swallowed hard at the large wounds he left. A sudden headache caused him to rush out – he needed some air. Get away from this. See if his brothers were okay and pray they didn't do the same mistake he did.

* * *

Leo snuck in close, and still they didn't see him. He was right behind one of the two when they both turned sharply to the door.

"What was that?!" they called, knocking on the door with their fists. Leonardo could hear something from inside – a yell, a roar and then, something… else. Something he couldn't name. But he didn't dwell on it – instead, he used the duo's surprise to jump at them.

He knocked the nearest one to the ground, pressing his foot on his back and forcing him into the cold, hard ground. He lowered one katana to the man's throat, and turned to the second one who had only now taken notice of what happened.

"Stand down and surrender, or I will kill him," the mutant's voice was hard, low and threating as the thug took a step back.

"Perhaps if you beg, Master Shredder will spare your life," Fearless added, pressing the blade closer to the man's throat.

"Like hell that'd happen!" the standing human hissed and ran forward, towards the ninja. Leo, frowning, prepared to block, when he felt his feet lost their ground. The man he'd been standing on had moved in such a way, it caused the turtle to lose balance and fall back.

"Now die!" his eyes were open in shock as his body moved on its own – he raised his weapons as he landed on the ground, closed his eyes to feel the pain-

Only it never came… Instead, there was a low wheeze, and the leader felt something drip all over his hands and even down on his plastron. Opening his eyes, he stared in horror at the man who had impaled himself on his katanas, his hands handing by his side as blood ran from his mouth and the two holes in his chest.

"N-NIKO!" the guy who was on the ground screamed, eyes wide with fear as he stumbled back, trying to get away from the ninja. "You – you killed him!"

Leonardo took quick breathes, feeling numb as he threw the body off his weapons. He was shaking, yet the thug didn't notice, as he himself was quivering.

"Surrender… or meet the same fate…" the mutant's voice was weak and strained as he pointed his blood coated blades at the man.

"Please, don't kill me…" he dropped to his knees; eyes closed and held up his hands. He had surrendered.

* * *

Donnie had just finished disabling the truck when the one sitting inside turned around and saw him.

"Hey! The hell are you? Get him!" he yelled, jumping off the truck as his companion was already rushing to the front.

"Time to get out of here," Don said to himself and was about to move away, when bullets started flying. They forced him down and he ducked by the nose of the truck, trying to get some cover. It wasn't much, but it gave him a second to grab his staff.

"Got ya!" the guy who was standing outside the truck – his hair was dyed purple – smirked as he aimed a gun at the mutant's head.

"No you don't," the turtle said halfheartedly and used his bo to sweep the guy off his feet, making him land face fist into the asphalt.

"Stay still you damn frog!" the other guy, blonde with red edges, hissed and fired his weapons again, growling as he missed.

"I'm a turtle you idiot. T. U. R. T. L. E." he spelled out the word with each dodge of the bullet until he was a few steps away from the human.

"And you're down," in a second, the gunman was on the ground, the mutant's foot on his chest as it kept him still. He pointed the edge of his staff at him and narrowed his eyes.

"A stick? You really think that'll do anything!" the human laughed and the tall mutant's frown deepened. He squeezed his weapon a bit, and suddenly, a blade popped out at the end of the 'stick' slicing away a few strands of his hair.

"A sharp stick – it's important to be precise," Donnie gloated, giving a smirk.

"Man, what are ya? Some kinda experiment? You and your brothers are nothin' but some freaks! I've heard 'bout you and you're just lucky to be alive! You're weak little-!" the human's words died in his breath as suddenly, there was a sharp snap. Don had retracted the blade and used the end of his bo to strike at his neck – breaking it.

"You don't know anything!" the usually calm turtle hissed, feeling anger for this person who dared to say what he did!

"I know… you're… gonna die…" the other guy – Donatello had forgotten about him – called, his gun pointed at him. As it went off, the bullet swayed – the gunman wasn't aiming properly and instead of hitting the turtle, it struck the truck engine.

The mutant opened his eyes wide and already jumped away, yet the explosion which followed caught his left arm around the elbow. He screamed in pain as his skin burned and watched the darkness be swatted away by the burning truck

* * *

Mikey grinned as he jumped onto the middle of the roof, landing with enough strength to cause a sound and get some attention. The trio turned and aimed their guns as he twirled his weapons, looking from one to the other.

"It's that Kung Fu frog! Get him!" the blonde called and all three fired. The mutant jumped in the air, twisting over the bullets and letting them pass each other and swoosh to the other side. The way they were standing, two got shot by the man standing opposite him, yet it was nothing vital.

"Quick one!" the raven-haired man growled and aimed at the turtle, who had landed neatly on his feet. Mike was grinning as he sprung towards the guy, using his spinning weapons to block the incoming bullets.

"Too slow dude!" he laughed as he struck the man over the head with his nunchuck, getting him to stagger back before falling on his back.

"Ugh, it talks to?" the spikey head muttered as he fired again, only to have the ninja evade all his shots.

"Just kill it!" the other blonde called pulling out a knife and trying to move in close.

"Bad choice my man!" Michelangelo laughed as he easily evaded all the swings of the knife. After all the times they've fought the Shredder and his fast blades, this was nothing!

"Too slow – again!" he laughed again, wrapping his weapon around the man's wrist and pulling on it, hearing a snap, followed a scream and a 'clank' as the knife fell to the ground.

"Hey, back off!" more bullets came and Mikey jumped to the side, before gripping his nunchuck tight and hurling it at the gunman. It hit him in the throat and he dropped to his knees, trying to get some air into his lungs.

"Man, you guys are so easy!" the mutant laughed as he walked up to the nearest thug and glared down.

"So sad I need to kill you," his voice turned more silent as he looked down. The human was looking in fear – it was the one with the broken wrist. He was scared out of his mind and clearly feared to even speak.

"… _This… isn't right…"_ the ninja saw no honor – as Tiger Claw had taught them – in killing someone like this. He took a step back, trying to shake the thought off, but it was an opportunity an enemy did not miss.

"Say good night… freak," the raven-haired man yelled as he pointed the gun at the distort turtle. Mikey braced for the shot, but it never came.

* * *

Time seemed to slow down as he saw a shadow appear behind the gunman, and suddenly, the guy had two swords sticking out of his chest, blood seeping out of them. The one who was struggling to breath couldn't even scream as a sai pierced his neck, freeing him of his need for air. The last one, with the broken wrist, didn't even feel it as a sai and katana came flying at him – one going through his stomach the other through his chest.

"Leo! Raph!" the youngest called, seeing his brothers appear on the roof, bloodied and panting as they watched him.

"Mikey-!" before either could actually speak, an explosion rocked the place and all three turned to the left, where a flaming pile of a truck was left.

"DONNIE!" the three screamed and forgot all else as they rushed off the rooftop and to their brother, finding him on the ground, twisting in pain and half conscious.

"We need to leave – now!"

"Agreed. Raph, get Donnie. Mikey, take his weapon. We're going!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a cliffhanger, kinda, but oh well~  
> Thanks so much for reading, and if you enjoyed, leave a review? I always love to hear what you all think ^^


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go people! Yeah, kinda late, I know, but I just can't keep up with everything going 'round me right now. Hope you don't mind =P
> 
> As this is another kinda long chapter, there'll be some time before the next one comes a'rollin' 'round. Yeah...  
> ANYWAY! Thanks to everyone who reads, reviews and favs! You people are the best! I hope you keep liking the story so =D

 

Tiger Claw could smell the four turtles before they rushed through the front door. And he could smell blood – lots of it – as well as burned skin. Their call for help and a doctor was quickly answered as the feline already assumed they needed it.

"Get Donnie help now! He got burned badly!" Leonard called, the adrenalin he was feeling allowing him to push through his exhaustion.

"But, you guys!" Mikey had his mouth open wide, still a bit in shock from what had happened. He looked at his blood-covered brothers.

"Not our blood," Raphael said, sparing a look at his hands before looking away.

"You okay Mikey?" the leader asked as he examined his brother for any wounds.

"I'm fine, seriously. But you two look terrible and D got really hurt…" the youngest started shaking and taking quick breathes. "What if – what if he doesn't make it? It looks really bad," he added, hyperventilating now as he watched around. "What if the Shredder-," before he could on, he felt two strong arms wrap around his neck and press his head into a green shoulder. He couldn't see through the tears in his eyes, but by the many scratches on the plastron and the scars on the arms, he knew it was his second oldest brother.

"Calm down Mikey…" Raph spoke quietly and gently, very uncommon for him. "It's gonna be fine… Don's gonna pull through and then he'll yell at us for being reckless… He'll tell us what we did while bandaging us up. Everything's gonna be fine, so calm down and breath, okay?" Raphael didn't release the smallest turtle – if anything, he hugged tighter and felt the other mutant hug him back. He felt Mikey shake as he sobbed quietly into his shoulder.

"Raph… Mikey…" Leo looked with sadness and helplessness. He was the oldest, yet he couldn't comfort his brothers – especially not with the blood on his hands. He dared not touch anyone like that, fearing he might hurt them as he hurt the humans. But Raph clearly didn't care about that – he just wanted to help their youngest, and he did by lying. Well, it was more hopeful thoughts than lies, but that didn't matter – it worked.

"Turtles," a Foot Soldier said as he walked over. Leonardo sent him a glare, almost daring him to interrupt this moment.

"…Master Shredder would have your report…" the man spoke more quietly and bowed, before leaving the mutant.

"…Right…" the leader grumbled and sighed. "Raph, take Mikey to Don or his room. Get some rest. I'll talk with the Master."

"You sure you'll be okay?" the younger two looked worriedly at their brother, the youngest clinging to the hot-heads arm.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Fearless figured he could use those small lies as well – anything to help comfort his brothers.

* * *

"I see…" Shredder said as Leo finished his report. He told the Master everything he could and left out a few personal details.

"It's clear you completed your task, yet you said you left one alive? Tied him up at the back of the alley and knocked him out?" Saki questioned. The mutant bowing in front of him was tired and still covered in blood, but remained cool and calm.

"Yes. I thought it would be a good idea to leave one alive to question him," Fearless explained himself, tightening his fist. He just hoped the Master wouldn't get mad.

"Well thought of Leonardo. I will have one of the others bring him here," Oroku stood from his throne and walked down the steps. As he moved, the turtle felt his body numb and swallowed hard. What now? Was he still getting punished? Why would-

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a gloved hand on his shoulder. He hadn't realized he closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he saw Saki standing by his side, looking down at him. His arm was still on his shoulder as he gave a small, slight pat.

"Well done Leonardo. You and your brothers proved yourself. I am quite pleased," the leader could hardly believe what he was hearing. Was the Shredder… praising him?

"T-Thank you, Master," Leo said after a momentary pause, bowing his head.

"But you all still need training. Not today, but tomorrow. For now, you and your brothers enjoy a day of rest," with that said, Saki walked past the mutant and left the throne room, leaving the shocked turtle alone. Leo didn't move for a minute or so, just stared ahead of himself, still not believing what had happened.

* * *

"How's he doin'?" Raph asked as he walked up to Xever, who had waited for him by the medical room.

"Pretty well from what they told me," the Brazilian answered, looking over the turtle's shoulder and saw Mikey looking at the ground. "Is… he okay?" he asked more quietly, nodding to the youngest.

"Fine, just really tired. We all are," Raphael answered and rubbed his face. He only then noticed he was still covered in blood and bit his lip.

"…Mind waiting with him for a bit? To hear anything new about Don? I gotto take a shower or something…" the older mutant turned around, and put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Hey, Mikey, why don't ya wait here for a bit? Maybe they'll let ya in if Don's feelin' good enough," again, the hot-head showed unusual calmness and spoke with a gentle tone.

"Y-Yeah… D never liked to be left out from our stuff… Promise to be back?" the baby blue eyes looking at Raph showed him Michelangelo was still not himself.

"Yeah, promise. And Leo's gonna be here soon. We'll see Don, don't worry," with an assuring smile and as squeeze on the shoulder, the sai user left the waiting lobby and headed towards the showers.

* * *

Mikey sat down on one of the chairs and pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees. He was looking down at the ground, not paying attention to much around him. Montes didn't know what to do. The only turtle he was close to hardly ever showed his emotional side, so he was lost.

"Are you alright?" the human asked, taking a few steps closer to the ninja.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" the yell from the mutant made the mercenary take a few steps back.

"S-Sorry…" Michelangelo quickly apologized, biting his lip. "I'm just tired of everyone asking if **I'm** okay, when _they're_ not…"

"What do you mean?" this time, Xever took a seat next to the turtle.

"Can't you see it? Leo and Raph are… off. Like, Leo couldn't even look at us when we came back and Raph's been acting all nice and all…"

"Yes, but they were worried about you and your brother."

"I don't think it's that…"

"Then what do you think it's about?"

"…The fact we were supposed to kill?" at his answer, the Brazilian man looked in shock. "Master Shredder's orders… Both Raph and Leo killed, and I dunno about Don… But ya know, they also killed to save me, 'cause I couldn't do it…" the youngest buried his face into his knees and let out silent sobs. "I don't… I don't want them to change like that… to – to go all dark and cold on us 'cause – 'cause they think they'll hurt us…" his voice was shaking as he spoke, wrapping his arms around his knees.

Montes could only watch as the small mutant tried to hold back his emotions or hide them someway. He had no idea what to say or do – he didn't know the story. So, the best he could offer was a shoulder on his shell and gave a small pat.

"Everything will be alright friend…"

* * *

Leonardo just left the throne room, when he saw the second oldest brother pass the hall. They didn't speak – only looked at each other. Raphael looked exhausted and even seemed to be shaking, while Leo had his fists clenched and body tense. Their eyes met and each one knew what the other was thinking. They killed and now they had tainted hands, but at least their brother was saved from such a fate. Question is… what happens now? Can they handle this kind of… pain? To constantly keep it up? And the answer was yes. They'll take all the suffering they can to save their brothers from this feeling.

Raphael didn't wait much longer before giving a nod and heading down the hall to the bathroom. Fearless watched after him and bit his lip – he might have kept Mikey from killing, but he couldn't save Raph – and that was something both of them will have to live with.

The leader looked at his bloodied hands again and sighed. He should get himself cleaned up too, but maybe in a different place than his younger brother… they both need some time right now to clear their minds up.

* * *

Xever noticed the small turtle had calmed down and was sitting silently. In fact, he didn't seem to be moving at all. With curious eyes, he looked closer and saw Mikey had fallen asleep right there in the chair. He seemed relatively calm and peaceful, given his position.

" _Must have been really exhausted…_ " he noted and pinched the bridge between his eyes. He looked over again and sighed, before getting to his feet. He recalled a few times he himself had simply fallen asleep in any position, back on the streets, especially after a long and harsh day like this one.

"Be right back amigo," he said quietly and went towards one of the rooms in the medical room. The least he could do was get the kid a blanket. But Michelangelo on the other hand, was far from peaceful and calm.

* * *

He sighed as he stood under the shower, looking up at it with closed eyes. He could feel the dried blood drip down his arms and fingers and he swallowed hard. It was sickening when he opened his eyes and looked down – he stood in a swirling pool of the red liquid. It made him sick and could feel it up in his throat. Raph leaned with one hand against the cool wall, while he leaned over; coughing up the nausea he was feeling. A minute later, he was on the ground, coughing up and unsure if that running down his face were tears of the water. Probably both.

* * *

He went to the different bathroom and held his bloodied hands under the water. It felt good as the hot liquid washed away the crimson red one. He hadn't realized it, but his hands were shaking as he watched the twirling pool of water in the sink. It made his stomach turn and he had to take a deep breath. Leo forced himself to rub off what didn't want to get off easily, and to avoid looking at the blood, he looked at the mirror. He saw his own, tired expression and… something else. It felt like he was looking at someone else. He seemed like a stranger in his one body and he couldn't figure out. But maybe he has changed… he even felt different now, and was it all because of killing? Probably.

* * *

He stood in the middle of the throne room, watching his three older brothers from the distance. Everything was black and white, with the exception of the crimson liquid on the ground and splattered all over his siblings.

"You have done well, my assassins," the Shredder spoke with glee as he walked around the kneeling mutants, giving each one a nod.

"Thank you, Master Shredder," the three spoke in unison, voices empty and void of emotion.

"All of you have done exceptional work. All save for one…" at that, all four of them turned around, looking directly at the youngest turtle.

Mikey wanted to scream, seeing the empty and white eyes of his brothers, but no sound came out. He tried again, to call out, but he only looked like a fish out of water.

"Your youngest has been a constant disappointment. And you all shield him for that," the human spoke with more anger and hatred with each word. The Master walked behind his siblings as they continued to stare him down. He wanted to move, yet couldn't. Something held him there and he was stuck as he was.

"How should I punish you all for that?" none of the three moved, yet the youngest swallowed and started shaking.

"Should I have all three of you kill him?" the older three all took out their weapons.

"No, too simple… I should have you all destroy one another," they paused only for a moment before looking at each other.

"Ah, no I have it…" the human stopped behind Donnie and grinned under his mask.

"Put away your weapons and get on your knees," he ordered and they obeyed. They faced Mikey as they sat down, still no emotion in their eyes.

* * *

"Donatello… You hardly ever disappointed me, always did as you were told and never spoke out of tone," Mikey felt his heart beat speed up as he saw the metal-clad ninja raise his bladed gauntlets. "Yet you would constantly excuse your brother's weakness and inability. You would cover his weakness with your toys and contraptions. That, is unacceptable!" within the next second, there was a quick intake of air before the brainy turtle's chest exploded in a blood red color, with a piece of metal sticking out of it. The body dropped, lifeless, as its life bleed onto the cold ground. The other two didn't move, didn't react – as if they didn't know it happened. But the one watching screamed, and this time, he heard. But only in his mind – it echoed there as he closed his eyes from the blood.

"Raphael… You are one of my best and greatest warriors. You would take punishment after punishment and thrive off it, growing stronger," the smallest mutant shook his head and muttered 'no, no, no' over and over as the Master leveled his blade with his brother's neck. "However, you were constantly rebelling, acting out and speaking when you should have been silent. Such disrespect deserves only death!" the blade flew horizontally and this time, only Mikey screamed and cried as Raph's head rolled off his body. It left a gushy trail of blood, as well as that pouring out of his body, which dropped back on his shell. Michelangelo fell to his knees, one hand over his mouth as he tried to keep from throwing up, but it wasn't really working. He was shaking badly and his eyes were shedding tears.

"Leonardo… You are a splendid leader, one I respected and trained well. You followed orders and knew how to handle the missions," the youngest brother didn't want to watch as the human used both blades and set them on the leader's shoulders. "But you often forgot what took priority on missions and would speak against me. Such things must be eliminated!" the blades flew downwards, there were two thumps and an ear piercing scream as Leo lost both his arms and fell forward. His body, while still alive, released the red liquid in such speed, he was drowning in a pool of his own blood in seconds. Mikey let out another scream, this one finally getting into the apparent world as he slammed his fists onto the ground.

"Michelangelo…" at the sound of his name, the ninja looked up and saw Shredder standing in front of him, glaring down. "This is all your fault, Michelangelo. You killed them, with your weakness and your need for protection. Their blood is on your hands," the mutant spared a glance at his fists and saw them covered in blood. He screamed again and when he opened his eyes, he saw the worried looks of Leo and Raph looking at him.

* * *

"Master, you seemed unusually merciful to them today," Chris spoke as he walked behind the Shredder, Tiger Claw next to him.

"To the turtles?" Saki didn't even glance at his student.

"Yes. Their mission was far from perfect, yet you praised them! To what end?" that made the metal-clad man stop and turn around.

"You don't understand do you? I should have expected as much…"

"What are you talking about Master?"

"He means," Tiger intervened; making sure it was okay by looking at Oroku. "That the turtles have killed – a victory for us. Master Shredder has broken them."

"Not all of them Tiger Claw… Not yet," the Master continued to walk.

"You mean the younger two?"

"Yes. I can tell when someone has taken a life – Michelangelo has not. I am unsure of Donatello, but given his… mess up with the truck, it is safe to say those two did not survive," the man walked up to a dungeon door and stood before it.

"Now, we have important matters to discus, do we not?" he looked at the man inside, bruised and hurt. "What possessed you and your companions to break away from the Purple Dragons and decide to steal from me – again?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam! There we go, another bloody and horrifying chapter. Yey!  
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed, if you did, leave a review! I love to hear what you all think =D


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAW OKAY YEAH I KNOW AND I’M SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE.   
> But no really, this one took for kriffin’ ever and it isn’t even that long or great?!???   
> I just had so much to do and... Yeah. Some of it is gone, but not all, so I’m not sure when the next chapter comes around... Sorry ‘bout that.
> 
> But anyway... Spike! Yey! I love that tortoise! mesacat13 even said that it is in the story so... yeah.

“Mikey? Mikey, wake up!” Raph called and shook his younger brother. In a second, the baby blues opened and the small mutant jumped at him, wrapping his arms around him.

“RAPH! LEO! You’re alive!” he yelled, making the second oldest steady himself as his brother’s weight dropped on him.

“Mikey, what happened? You were talking in your sleep and crying and-,” Leonardo couldn’t go on before their youngest pulled him into the hug to, pancaking Raph between the both of them now.

“I had the worst nightmare ever!” Michelangelo was still crying as he held onto his brothers for dear life, fearing if he let go, they’d die.

“Mikey, calm down… We’re fine. We’re here. It’s okay…” the leader closed his eyes and patted the smallest one on the shell, feeling his shoulder grow wet. He saw his immediate younger brother was uncomfortable, yet remained silent for their brother’s sake.

“C’mon, let’s go… Donnie woke up a few minutes ago. We can go and see him,” the hug lasted a few more seconds before Mikey pulled away and wiped the tears away.

“You okay?” their answer was a nod and a weak smile.

“Good, let’s go then.”

* * *

 

“It’s only second-degree burns. I won’t be able to use the arm for a while, but it shouldn’t leave too much damage,” Donatello explained to his brothers as they sat around his bed. His left arm was in a cast and he had a few bandages over his body.

“Well, great, I’m sure Shredder will just love this…” Raph mumbled, arms crossed over his plastron as he stood on the left side.

“He’s not going to let you off because of the injury is he?” Mikey was sitting on the bed on the left side, looking worriedly at his brothers.

“Maybe I can double for Don… He loves seeing how far I can go before I drop dead,” the way the hot-head said it made the youngest shudder at the memory of his death.

“Well, for now, you can rest. The Master gave us a day off,” Leonardo spoke up, sitting on a chair on the right side.

“…He did what?” the other three looked in shock as none believed they heard right.

“He was ‘quite pleased’ with our work today and gave us this day to… do whatever we wanted. No training, no missions.”

Silence was all around as none of the brothers really knew what to say, let alone what to do. They’ve never really had a ‘day off’ and didn’t have any real hobbies. But they weren’t about to let this opportunity to go waste.

“Well, if any of you want, I could use some help in the lab. With my left arm… indisposed, I could use another one,” he looked at his siblings with a bit of hope.

“I’ll do it,” Mikey raised his hand, giving a smile. “I got two hands so that’s better right?” his brother had to laugh at his joke.

“Well, if that’s the case I’ll-,” Leo was stopped when Raph threw an arm around his neck.

“How ‘bout we head out for patrol in the city? Train out a bit? Tiger did say we can go when we want, as long as we tell him,” the hot-head clearly wanted out, and so did Fearless.

“Some city training sounds good yeah,” Leonardo agreed and gave a grin.

* * *

 

“One would think that a ‘training free day’ would be spent without training,” Tiger Claw said as he jumped across the rooftop.

“Well, yes, but your training Sensei, is completely different from that of Master Shredder,” when they were away from Saki like this, all the turtles liked to call Tiger Claw sensei. It’s a habit none of them wanted to break and Tiger didn’t mind.

“Yeah, ‘sides, we don’t train outside with Shredder,” Raph added and got a side glance from the older mutant for forgetting ‘master’.

“With good reason. The Master has no time to deal with such trivial things,” despite his words, the brothers knew Tiger didn’t mean them.

“Now then,” the trainer suddenly stopped in his tracks, making his two students skid to a stop and turn towards him.

“This time, we shall test your skills of observation. One of you shall stay here, with me, while the other one seeks out a hiding spot. The mission will be to seek out the hidden one, using your senses and your surroundings. He who hides longest, wins.”

“So, who’ll go first?” Raph asked, arms folded and grinned as he turned to Leo… only to find his brother was already gone.

“It would seem you go first,” Tiger Claw couldn’t help the smirk on his face as he saw the annoyed turtle grumble before running off.

* * *

 

“So, what’cha makin’?” Mikey asked, hands behind his back as he watched Donnie set down a few things on his worktable.

“My tracker was destroyed in the explosion, so I need a new one,” the older turtle said and sighed, wincing a bit form the pain.

“Oh, cool! What do ya need me to do?” the younger one was excited as he stepped closer, taking a closer look at the things.

“You’ll be my hands,” Don smiled while Michelangelo almost squealed in joy.

“Now then, start by opening up that plate there…” the hyper ninja did as he was told, carefully and with more focus than his brother had ever seen him. Despite how he acted, the small mutant was quick and agile and when he took something seriously, he was a force to reckon with.

“Careful now. This is the most important part,” Donnie said, watching closely as his brother set a small chip into the device. “Steady…” he instructed as Mikey lowered his arm without even shaking. He was sticking out his tongue in concentration, and when he finally dropped the chip, the older brother smiled.

“Well done! Honestly, I couldn’t have done it better myself!” the brainy turtle patted his sibling on the shoulder, learning a laugh for him.

“I try!” the hyper ninja scratched the back of his head, grinning.

“C’mon, I got a stash of sweets in a cupboard. Just don’t tell Leo and Raph.”

“Oh, yes! I love you man!”

* * *

 

“If I were Leo, where would I hide…?” Raph said aloud, perched at the edge of a rooftop, looking over the buildings and allies. With a smirk, he jumped down and walked over to the dumpster, opened it up and faked a sigh.

“Oh, what a shock! I was sure Leo was in here!” he called, picking up the movement not from the alley across the road.

“Hey, keep it down you whippersnappers!” an old lady yelled, throwing out a flower pot at the hot head. Luckily, he dodged and managed to hold himself back from yelling again.

“Whatever…” he grumbled and was about to head towards the other ally, when the door to his right suddenly opened.

“But dad-!” a kid cried and Raph panicked, blood running cold – what is he supposed to do? Quickly, he looked for a place to hide, and the nearest just happened to be the still open dumpster. Without much thought, he jumped in just as a young girl and her father walked out and into the alley.

“I said no! This thing is nothing but trouble!” the man snapped back and the turtle could hear heavy footsteps coming closer.

“But – but why throw it away? Why not give him to a shelter?”

“It’s just more trouble,” the man said and suddenly, Raph could see the man as he walked up to the dumpster. Since he was half buried in the trash and it was dark, so the shadows hid him well, the Human didn’t even notice as he dropped something into the dump.

“And I won’t be hearing any more about this! Understood?!” he yelled at the girl, who was crying by now.

“Yes…” she whispered back, sobs escaping her.

“Good. Now get in.”

“I wanna say goodbye at least…”

“Make it fast.”

* * *

 

Raph, still in the dumpster, heard small steps come closer. He moved slightly, as it was really uncomfortable, and that’s when he saw something _else_ moved as well. It was small, a big bigger than his hand and was crawling up from a bag it was stuffed in.

“Bibo?” the little girl asked and peered into the trash, her eyes opening slightly as she saw the large mutant turtle.

“…” neither of them said anything, only looked at each other, unmoving, until the something else finally crawled from the bag. It was a turtle and it looked up at the girl, before she started crying.

“Are you here to take care of Bibo now?” she whispered quietly, looking back at Raph. “He’s… he’s a good tortoise … friendly too… But my dad… he won’t let me keep him… So – So will you?” she sniffed a few time as she spoke.

The only answer Raphael could give was a nod as she smiled at him.

“See Bibo? You’ll… you’ll have someone to watch you now…”

“Abby! Get inside, now!”

“C-Coming!” with a final look at the two reptiles, the girl rushed off and closed the door behind her.

The ninja, still in shock of what happened, only looked down at the tortoise with a confused expression. The animal looked back at him and moved closer, rubbing its head against his knee. The hothead couldn’t help himself and smiled, rubbing his neck.

“Hey there lil guy… Don’t worry, I got ya…” he said softly and picked up the animal. “Ya know, you’re like a cousin or somethin’, right?” he grinned as the smaller reptilian seemed to nod, although it was probably just a shake of his hands.

“Well then, we gotto take ya home. But that ain’t gonna be easy…”

* * *

 

“Sensei?” Leonardo asked as he walked up to Tiger Claw, who was still where the two brothers left him about an hour ago.

“Leonardo?” the feline asked in surprise. He looked around and didn’t see the younger one.

“Where is Raphael?” he asked, confused now.

“I was wondering if you could tell me. I heard him across the alley some time ago, and moved, but then… I don’t know. I didn’t see him at all.”

And, as the saying goes: talk about the devil and he shall appear – Raph jumped onto the roof, holding something in his hands as he walked over to the two mutants.

“Sorry Sensei, I um… got lost,” he gave a weak smile.

“How?” both of them asked before seeing what he was holding.

“Is that…?” neither could really believe it, and had to blink a few times to make sure they were seeing right.

“Yeah… Someone threw him into the thrash…” the teenager looked up, hoping Tiger would understand what he was trying to say.

“…You wish to keep it?” the trainer asked, just to make sure. This was quite unusual of the hot-head so he had to check.

“Yeah… I mean, we can’t just leave him here! He’ll die! And he’s our cousin, right?” Raph held the reptilian up, so the older mutant could see it clearly.

“…” Tiger said nothing, but gave a thoughtful look.

“I promise to take care of him! Like, feed him and stuff! Promise Master Shredder won’t ever know!” the second oldest pleaded and both other mutants were surprised he used ‘Master’.

“Sensei, maybe this is good. Raph having something to focus on, other than sparring and beating someone up… It’s good focus,” Leo chipped in carefully, seeing his bother really wanted to keep the tortoise.

“…Very well…” Tiger let out a sigh in defeat as Raph smiled. “However! He is your responsibility. Should Master Shredder ever find out, what happens to the little one, is on you,” he made it sure, but it didn’t seem to matter as the hot-head kept smiling.

“Yes! Thank you Sensei!”

“Come then, let us go back. Training is over for today.”

* * *

 

As they were making their back, Raph carried the tortoise and moved along with Leo.

“Thanks Leo,” Raphael said, surprising his older brother.

“No sweat bro. I saw you really wanted to take him home,” Leonardo smiled back, knowing his younger brother wasn’t the best at these kinds of things.

“So, what’s his name anyway?” Fearless asked, looking at the two reptilians.

“…I think I’m gonna call him Spike,” the said user said with a smile.

“Why Spike?”

“’Cause his shell has spikes,” he turned the animal over a bit, showing the shell to the leader, who only not noticed it.

“Nicely chosen.”

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  Hallelujah! New chapter, finally! Sorry this took so long, and that it’s kinda short for the way, but there wasn’t another way…   
> After this, we’ll be doin’ a bit of a time skip so, be ready for that next turn. And thanks so much if you’re still sticking ‘round for this ^^’’

“Sooo!” Mikey called, hands behind his back and he looked at Donnie. The older brother was doing some finishing touches on his new device.

“What’re we doin’ next?” he asked cheerfully, still full of energy.

“…Well,” Donatello said thoughtfully, even a bit unsure. “There is a project I’ve been working on. It’s only a prototype, and it needs a lot of work, but maybe-,”

“Let’s do it!” the hyper ninja interrupted before the brainy turtle could finish.

“Just promise me you won’t touch any of the buttons,” Don sighed and Mikey almost squealed in delight. Buttons!

By the time Leo, Raph and Tiger Claw got back to the hideout, they heard screams, yells, curses and crashes. Well, mostly from the lab, but it was heard all around the place.

“What is going on in he-?!” before Tiger could actually question what had happened, he received a metal fist in the face. Apparently, not even a cat’s reflexes could have dodged that one.

“Sensei!” the older two turtles called, before a yell of ‘Get down!’ made them look inside the lab again. Another fist was coming at them.

Leonardo was missed by a hair, but the fist went straight for Raphael and smacked into his plastron, sending him flying. The force actually knocked Spike out of his hands and Leo reacted just in time to catch their little cousin.

“Sorry!” came a shout from the lab and Fearless looked in horror.

“Donnie! What is going on?” he yelled as his brother and sensei seemed to start regaining themselves. Donatello, with Michelangelo in tow, rushed out of the lab, holding a small device. The youngest helped the older mutant while their hot-headed brother growled.

“Donnie!” his tone was threatening before the metal fist gave off one last puff. It was enough to scare him though.

“Donatello, explain yourself!” Tiger Claw demanded, rubbing his sore head. He didn’t look happy – not at all…

* * *

“Welllll…” the brainy turtle started off, clearly thinking of a good explanation. “This is a little… project I’ve been working on…” he motioned to the device and then to his lab.

“It’s still a prototype so it malfunctioned!” he added quickly, trying to defend himself as the other mutants walked inside to see what that contraption was.

“…Is that?” Leo pointed at the ‘project’ a bit at a loss for words.

“Donnie, the hell is this?” Raph was torn between anger and confusion.

“…” Tiger Claw eyed the project with narrow and weary eyes as the fists were placed back on it. “Donatello, why would you build something like this?” he asked at last.

“To help us scout out difficult areas or even help in a fight,” the tallest reptilian grinned, standing up from his project, before clearing his throat.

“Sensei, turtles – and Raph – may I introduce to you-!” he turned up a switch nearby, illuminating the area around his project. “-Metalhead!”

* * *

The project was something none of them had actually seen. It was a sort of metal turtle, smaller than any of them, with purple and back as its main colors, with a pinch of gray. It was clearly made of all sorts of scraps Donnie and collected, but a lot was also some high end technology. Seems the Shredder actually gave him some material to work with.

“…It’s a small metal turtle,” Raphael frowned and crossed his arms, not really impressed. Or he just didn’t want to admit it, since one of its fists did send him flying.

“Ah! It’s so much more than that! Observe!” the brainy turtle gave his wicked smile and pressed a button on his controller. As Metalhead made a few sounds, both the hot-headed turtle and Tiger Claw winced a bit and prepared themselves.

“Mikey, if you would be so kind,” Donatello nodded towards the youngest, who grinned back and walked to the other side of the lab. He picked up… something? A microphone? And started speaking in it.

“Hello dudes!” Metalhead spoke, its mouth opening, with their youngest brother’s voice.

“Scouting… Seems promising,” Leo actually nodded in approval. This could be very useful and would keep them out of harm’s way.

“And what’s best!” Don turned and pointed at a computer on the table. “I can see everything Metalhead sees from right here! Distance and locations are no problem!” he rubbed his finger under his nose, giving a proud grin.

“An impressive creation, Donatello,” Tiger Claw nodded as well. He was being honest. This machine, although it would not be truly accepted here, would be of great help.

“Thank you, sensei,” the brainy turtle smiled, the praise all he really wanted.

“But as I said, it’s still just a prototype,” he added and turned the metal turtle off, giving a small sigh. “It could take a while before it’s finished.”

* * *

“Don’t rush my man! Stuff like this needs to be taken care of!” Michelangelo threw an arm around his older brother.

“He’s right you know. It’s great that you have it ready, but it’s not all that important,” Fearless Leader seconded that.

“As long as it’s fists stay away from my face, it’s cool,” Raph muttered, finally getting hold of Spike again.

“Thanks you guys,” Donatello was actually a bit worried about what his brothers would have said, so hearing that they like his idea, meant the world to him.

“Now cubs, the day is not yet over. You should rest while you can. Master Shredder will being your new lesson tomorrow.”

“Hai, sensei,” the turtles managed to say back, feeling their blood run cold. They had, for at least a bit, forgotten about the Shredder and his training. But their break was over. Time to get back to trying to survive each new lesson.

* * *

“So, what’s the deal with the turtle?” Mikey asked, seeing the bundle in his older brother’s hands. Neither of them had actually left the lab – they were just chatting about before they’d all be too exhausted to even do that.

“Actually, it’s a tortoise,” Donnie corrected from behind, looking at the animal as well.

“I found him,” Raph said with a shrug, feeding his new friend a piece of salad he managed to get out of the kitchen.

“And you’re keeping him?” the tallest brother looked with a mixture of surprise and disbelieve.

“Tiger Claw said I could, so yeah,” the hothead muttered, as if ignoring the other two.

“Where are you even going to keep him?” Leonardo asked. At that, the second oldest blinked, not entirely sure.

“…Haven’t gotten that far yet…”

“Well, a tortoise is a land animal. You’d need a terrarium, with some sand or small pebbles, a small bowl of water to keep him hydrated, a special heating light for him and a small space for him to live,” Donatello counted the things on his fingers, looking at his older brother.

There was a space of silence as the four siblings looked at each other, then at their cousin, and then at their hotheaded brother.

“Or, you know, just keep him in your room. But at least get him the light – it acts as the sun should,” Donatello finally added, seeing they wouldn’t be able to take care of the pet as they were properly supposed to.

“Right, thanks Don!” the sai user smiled, and seemed genuinely thankful.

“Sure.”

* * *

“Has there been any sight of Yoshi?” Saki asked as Tiger Claw kneeled down in front of him.

“No Master Shredder. Even today, when the cubs were along, he did not show himself. Perhaps he has fled?” the mutant looked up, unsure.

“No. He’s still here. I know he is,” Oroku stood up and walked down towards the feline.

“He shall come out eventually. And I shall be waiting,” Saki had his arms behind his back as he walked back up to his throne.

“Inform the turtles that tomorrow’s training shall be early, after which they will be given an assignment. More details shall be given by me after training.”

“Understood Master.”

* * *

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Xever did not looked amused as he crossed his arms.

“C’mon man, I’m serious!” Raph tried to look as pleading as he could. “You’re room has actual windows! The little guy needs sun!” he added, holding Spike in his hands.

“…Ai…” the Brazilian sighed, shook his head and muttered a few words. “Fine. But only for a few days. I do not want your cousin littering all over my clothes.”

“Yes! Thanks man! I owe ya one! And promise, I’ll get that light and Spike’ll be outta your hands!” the ninja grinned and carefully handed his new pet to his friend.

“That’s two you owe me now. I’m going to need to start keeping a list.”

* * *

“Yo, D, what ‘bout you and your arm?” Mikey asked as he watched Donnie finish up the last few adjustments on his sensor.

“…Haven’t thought about that…” he admitted, looking at his bandaged arm. It didn’t hurt as much anymore, and he could move it around slightly, but that was it.

“Are Raph and Leo gonna cover for you? ‘Cause, I wanna help to!”

“…Honestly Mikey, I don’t know,” there was a tense silence as the two looked at each other. There’s no telling what Shredder would do. But whatever it was, it couldn’t end very well… Best case scenario – Donnie is actually able to do what he’s told. Worse case – one of his brothers doubles for him and ends up almost getting killed.

* * *

Leonardo tried to sleep, to get some extra rest for tomorrow, but he couldn’t. There was just so much rattling in his mind right now. And the constant worry of tomorrow was not helping. As the leader, he had to make sure his brothers were okay, first and foremost. But doing that, and keeping himself alive, while standing up to the Shredder’s punishment was a lot easier in his head than he’d care to admit. But still, he’d carry on – he had to. All he knew for certain was that tomorrow was not going to be easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah and great holidays to everyone! Hope you all get a blast of the coming days and enjoy the new year! =D 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know - I'm late again. But stuff's been happening and I've been busy, but I'm still working on this story.  
> Also, I know this one is kinda short, but I wanted to make a Donnie centric one. Unfortunately, Don is the turtle I have the most trouble working on, so...  
> And before any of you ask - next one is the Mikey one. The one all you sadistic taffers want. But I ain't sure when it'll come
> 
> I think that's all?

 

When the morning training began, all four brothers tried to hide their worry, yet couldn't help as they constantly checked on Donatello. The tallest one hid his pain rather well, being able to do some basic exercises without showing how much it actually hurt. They figured Shredder would find out sooner or later, so the other three brothers worked extra hard to keep attention away from the injured one. However, that didn't work as they thought…

"Donatello!" at the call of his name, Donnie froze and swallowed, before turning to the man in metal and gave a bow.

"You have been lacking behind your brothers in these exercises," the master narrowed his eyes as the other three mutants looked in fear and worry.

"I – I'm sorry, Master Shredder. It's just-," Don tried to speak, but fear was turning his head into mush. Saying he was hurt would only make things worse – Saki didn't tolerate weakness. Actually, any sort of excuse was bound to make it worse.

"I – I still haven't recovered from our latest mission," he went for the truth in the end. Maybe, by some miracle, he wouldn't get such a high punishment if he was honest.

"And whose fault is that?" the man spoke with annoyance and menace, glaring at the brainy mutant.

* * *

Both Leo and Raph wanted to help, to say something, but they knew it will only send things further out of control. Speaking up will probably make the man think Donnie is even weaker, unable to stand up for himself, and end up beating him.

"I-," before the staff user could say anything, a kick to the plastron sent him flying into a wall. Donnie crashed and let out a groan of pain, cradling his burned arm.

"Your injuries are your own. It is not an excuse to show weakness. Pain should make you stronger, so you never feel it again," the Master said, looking down on the mutant.

His brothers twitched to move, yet the man in metal didn't move any closer. They were worried, yes, but if they move now, things could get a lot worse.

"Donatello," he went on. "Your body is weaker compared to the others – that is clearly seen. You are not as loud as your brothers, nor are you as impulsive. You have never truly defied me and remained loyal. It is for that reason, I expect you to do more," Donnie picked himself up and bit his cheek to be silent.

"And it is for that reason, I am allowing you to leave training," all four brothers looked up in shock and disbelieve. They didn't even know how to react.

"You are excused from here, until your arm has healed. In return, I expect you to work on your… projects. However," and of course, there was always a 'but'…

"Should you misuse this opportunity, your brothers shall face the consequences," Donnie took in a quick breath and looked at his siblings. They were all nodding silently, as if telling him it'll be okay and that he should rest.

"I… I understand," Don bowed his head and closed his eyes. He felt so useless right now and Saki was using it against all of them.

"Good. Now leave. We have work to do," the master turned back to the other three and Donnie gave them all a final look before slowly walking out of the dojo.

* * *

A few hours later and Connie couldn't stand being in the lab anymore. He hadn't heard any of his brothers and his worry was getting to him. He stared down at his computer and frowned. He couldn't take much more of this, but at the same time, this was the best chance to work on anything he wanted, without Saki breathing down his neck. His eyes landed on the mutagen tube on the shelf. There was something about it… The more he tried to explain it in his head, the more confusion it got.

"Could it possibly help?" he asked himself in wonder. He had to find a way… a way to help his brothers. He would look up more medical work, would try harder. He would be able to help, to be of use. He swore.

* * *

"You are too distracted!" Shredder hissed, breaking through Leonardo's cross block. The eldest stumbled back, letting out a small yelp, as he tried to regain his balance. Raphael jumped in between, keeping the Master at a distance. But he had to leave Mikey, who was flung into a wall, to get it together by himself. None of them really expected how hard it would be, without one of their own. With Don gone, they constantly had to cover up for him, and Oroku showed no mercy.

* * *

"Agh! Nothing works!" Donatello screamed, slamming his good fist on the table. He's been trying to understand the mutagen, but just couldn't seem to crack it.

"What good am I, if I can't do right the one thing I'm supposed to!" there wasn't any answer, but the brainy turtle took in a shaky breath. He had to keep calm, keep it together, keep at it… because if he won't, who would?

"Donatello?" someone spoke and the mutant immediately shot up, snapping his head at the door. For a moment, fear washed over him that something had happened, yet let out a relived breath when he saw who stood there.

"Tiger Claw sensei," he gave a weak smile as the feline walked over, looking with mild curiosity at the work table. "What can I do for you?"

"I had heard what happened with Master Shredder," the older mutant started, seeing the turtle tense at that. "I had discussed with him, that you are more suited here, in a lab, than in the dojo. With… much convincing, he agreed that your primary focus shall lay here, in creating and working out things for the Foot."

"…Sensei…" Donnie looked up, speechless, and needed a moment to wrap his mind around this. He could work here, full time? Without worry of getting his shell kicked every morning? That was amazing but-

"But what about my brothers?" his joy turned into worry in a moment.

"They shall still be training, and you shall as well. At least until you are fully fledged ninjas. You however, will not need to train as much."

"I see," he wasn't sure if it was a relief or not, but he'd take it as such. "Thank you, sensei."

"Just promise to not forget about training, Donatello. A mind is a powerful thing, but without a powerful body, it can lead to disaster."

"Hai!"

* * *

Three hours later, and the other turtles returned to the lab. They were all bruised, scratched and beaten, yet seemed far better than many more times. And although all of them would rather than anything go to sleep, they knew Donnie would throw a fit if they didn't treat their injuries.

"Sorry for the trouble," the tallest one had said, bandaging up Leo's shoulder.

"It's alright D," Mikey piped in, a bandage where two nasty slices were.

"Yeah, we need to learn to fight without all of us together anyway," Raph muttered, rubbing his sore feet.

"They're right Don," Leonardo assured, giving a smile. "Shredder also told us we'll be starting regular missions in a week. Seems he's growing impressed by our training."

"My arm should be fine by then, so I'll be able to join."

"Ah yeah man! The turtle brothers are back!"

"Try not to blow yourself up this time, eh?"

"One time… It happened one time!"

"That's one time too many."

Donnie couldn't help but laugh along. Despite how he felt that he useless right now, he still felt very welcomed. That's what brothers are for, right? And even if he wouldn't be fighting as much as them, he'd support them from here, the lab, the best way he could.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright everyone, I got an announcement to make:  
> I won’t be posting or writing anymore about this Dark Turtles AU – this is the last chapter. Don’t be too surprised really – there’s hardly been ANY feedback for the story. There was some, those of you who did, I love you to death! And honestly, I’m getting kinda overwhelmed with all the stuff going on in real life. If you’re lucky or whatever, you might find someone else to write this, but I’m off of it.
> 
> Hope you all can understand this and not come at me with fire and pitchforks, and that this last chapter was what you crazy sadists wanted.

The blades pierced through flesh and bone as the body dropped, the crimson liquid spilling onto the hard ground. Behind him, another body dropped, windpipe broken as the human struggled to breathe. A noise announced someone crashing into a wall, followed by two metal weapons piercing the chest. The final one rolled from the rooftops onto the ground, to the trio’s feet, as the fourth silently jumped down. He stood by the broken body, still alive and begging for his life, but couldn’t deliver the finishing blow. A sai through the man’s chest ended his misery as the fourth closed his eyes and looked away.

“…Still can’t do it?” Leonardo asked, gently, setting a hand on his shoulder.

“No, I’m sorry…” Mikey shook his head, eyes looking at his bother with guilt.

“It’s fine as long as Shredder doesn’t find out,” Raphael muttered, wiping away the blood.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll take care of it,” Donnie assured, giving a weak smile.

“Thanks you guys…”

“Anytime. Now let’s go – the sun’s coming up and we need to give our report.”

* * *

 

When they returned home, things went as usual. A quick report, a comment and a dismissal. But the youngest couldn’t help the feeling of Shredder watching him from high above his throne. He passed it off as his imagination and when they were allowed to leave, he was the first out the door.

The next time it happened, Shredder addressed the issue, but the brothers all lied as best they could. Saki knew something was up, but let them pass anyway. For now.

The same kept on happening for a long time, months even, with Michelangelo being unable to kill his enemy while his brothers finished up after him. It was a secret they kept to themselves and although Tiger Claw had noticed something, the older mutant never asked about it. For a time, they all believed they could get through this without incident. But they quickly saw they wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret much longer…

Three of the brothers had begun to… change, ever so slightly. The countless deaths resting upon their shoulders made them all more distant, more reserved. Donatello would spend more time in his lab, coming up with different weapons for the clan or working on new contraptions to help in the field. Raph had grown more violent, was prone to quicker outburst of anger and hatred. He would still argue, yet would quickly use his firsts instead of his words. Leo looked so tired every time, and his eyes turned cold and harsh. He rarely showed much of how he felt, or was actually unsure how he felt. Mikey on the other hand, managed to pretend as if everything was still alright, even if guilt was present more than ever. And it didn’t take long for Saki to catch up on this as well…

* * *

 

Almost a year after their regular missions began, a year of killing – or not in the youngest case – Oroku finally called Mikey out.

“You summoned for me, Master Shredder?” the mutant asked carefully as he kneeled down in front of the stairs, keeping his head down.

“Yes,” Saki only narrowed his eyes, almost glaring down at the turtle. “Tell me, Michelangelo, why do you still disobey my orders?” at that, the mutant looked up in both shock and surprise.

“I – I don’t understand,” came the reply and Mikey really wasn’t sure. What did he do? He’s followed every order so far, so why-

“I have given you more than enough time to rectify your failure! So why do you keep repeating it?” this time, the man in metal stood and the ninja winced from the raised voice. He didn’t like this one bit…

“I did not train any of you to be weak, so way can your brothers do it while you waver like some sort of coward?” and it was then that it finally dawned on the youngest.

“Answer me!” as the Master walked down and stopped before the mutant, Michelangelo swallowed and tried to gather his thoughts. He found his mind empty and his tongue twisted. What **is** he supposed to say?

“I don’t-!” before he could actually finish speaking, he felt a blow to his plastron that sent him onto the ground.

“Do not lie to me, turtle!” the human hissed, pressing his foot on his shell.

For a few seconds there, the mutant had no idea what to even do, so he stayed silent and tried to get some air into his lungs. It didn’t take long before Saki spun him around and held him in the air, eyes burning into his skull.

“When I give an order, I expect it to be followed! Why you do not, I do not understand, but I shall make you see I am not to be defied!” the man unleashed his blades and memories flashed before Mikey’s eyes. He acted out of instinct when he kicked the Shredder in the chest and freed himself, however he was in momentary shock. The many times he’s seen those blades cut and tear through his or his brother’s flesh was burned into his mind.

“So, there is some fight in you after all…” Saki was back on his feet almost instantly, and this time, both his gauntlets were ready.

“Show me that you are not as weak as you seem!”

* * *

 

“I’m worried you guys…” Donnie muttered, staring down at his latest project. He couldn’t even focus on it for his fear for Mikey.

“You an us all,” Raph grumbled, taking up a corner and petting Spike. He hadn’t really moved from there since arriving.

“There’s no telling what Master Shredder could be doing to him, but we need to stay put. Anything we do will probably make things worse,” Leo was standing by the door, arms folded as he kept an eye out for any new information.

“And if we don’t do anything, things will be okay? I doubt it!” the hot-head let out a bitter laugh, getting an even more concerned look from the brainy one.

“Why was he even called in?” Don started fiddling with his tools to fill his hands.

“I don’t know Donatello, but it can’t be good…”

* * *

 

Mikey wasn’t sure how long he’s been here, he just knew he had to keep going. Most of the time he was relying on instinct anyway, but that was _just_ keeping him alive. And he had the scars to prove it. He was scared. This is unlike any other time he’s been punished. It looked like Shredder just might kill him this time around.

“Pathetic,” he heard the man sneer as he stood above him. The cuts on his arms and legs were bleeding, his plastron was had deep cuts and there was a line running down the side of his head. He was tired, in pain, bleeding and probably had a few broken bones. Could he really be blamed for not getting up anymore?

“Have you learned your lesson?” was the cold question, to which Mikey only coughed up some blood on the floor.

“Answer me!” he felt a kick in his side and something cracked – either his shell, plastron or bone. Either way, it was hard to breathe and he was fighting really, really hard not to let the tears drop.

“Y-Yes,” he choked out, spitting blood along with it and taking in heavy breathes of air. But as he said that, the blood splattered onto the Master’s armor, coating his mask in blood. Suddenly, something snapped as his eyes went wild, and he swung his blades again. Michelangelo had no time or energy to react, so he only raised his left arm to try and shield himself and closed his eyes to try and ease the pain. A moment later, the arm felt… weird. Numb and in pain at the same time, while there was plenty of a sticky liquid on his face. Opening his eyes, he saw red – literally – and finally the pain hit him. He saw his whole arm past the elbow was a mangled mess of blood, flesh and bone and screamed. It reached far out, through the entire building and even down into the sewers where a giant looking rat twitched its ears and looked up in fear and horror.

* * *

 

The screaming didn’t die down, even after Michelangelo was taken to the infirmary. His brothers had rushed towards the room, only to find Bradford already taking the youngest out. Donatello was allowed to go along, while Xever was sent in to help Leonardo keep Raphael from attacking Saki.

Tiger Claw stood guard after the other two, while Donnie actually helped with the operation. The brainy turtle hid it very well, but he was really close to throwing up each time he saw the mangled mess his baby brother was.

The arm was dead and needed to be amputated – they did that with hot metal and more screams followed, since they couldn’t risk putting him under just yet. His ribs were broken and there was blood in his air-way – that just might kill him if he goes under. Donnie managed to hold himself together through the operation, but once it was over and Mikey was out of danger of death, the tallest brother staggered to the nearest bathroom and puked his previous dinner, lunch and breakfast. He couldn’t hide the tears as they rolled down his face and he heard someone enter. A familiar three-finger-hand on his shoulder and he didn’t care which older brother it was – he just buried his face in his plastron.

* * *

 

Raph had gone back to the corner, but Tiger still left Xever there to watch him, just in case. With Leonardo checking on Donatello and later probably Mikey, the feline found himself confronting Shredder about what happened.

“My intention was not to dismember him,” Saki answered, his back to the kneeling mutant. “I merely wished to teach him a lesson.”

“You went too far,” Tiger Claw was a bit nervous about talking like this, but his anger was stronger than his fear.

“…I do not deny that…”

“His arm was… unrecoverable…”

“…Tell Donatello to find a way to fix that problem. Michelangelo might be down an arm but he is not useless.”

“Are you suggesting a prosthetic one?”

“Whatever it takes,” Saki finally turned and his eyes were unreadable.

“…As you wish, Master.”

* * *

 

Leo came back to the Lab with Don in his arms, passed out. Raphael almost jumped to his feet as he asked question after question, about both their younger siblings, and Leonardo only brushed him off until he settled the brainy one down.

“Mikey will pull through… He lost his arm however. Donnie isn’t sure if – what will happen now that he-,” Fearless couldn’t finish his sentence and just put his hands over his face, taking a few calming breathes.

“…” the hot-head only looked in horror, trying to comprehend what had happened, before he just collapsed on his knees. He was blinking in confusion, as if his mind had shut down.

“Poor kids…” Montes said to himself, quietly leaving the room and the grieving brothers.

* * *

 

Tiger came in about an hour after that, asking to see Donnie. Despite the protests of his brothers, the tallest turtle was woken up and the situation explained. It seemed he found new light and hope, as he nodded fiercely to the idea and explained it in short to the older two. No one was sure how this would work, and they didn’t really care Shredder suggested it – if there was a way to make sure their baby brother wouldn’t be killed off because he was ‘useless’ now, they were going to take it.

So, while Donatello worked on blueprints and ideas for the new arm, the elder two decided to visit said brother. Leo actually spent the most time with him, while Raph kept losing his cool and was told to leave more than once. He took up training with Xever to let off some steam, but he did still check in every so often.

Michelangelo himself was… in shock. He still had phantom pain, despite everything done to ease him, and his eyes just seemed… empty. Being with his brother helped him greatly it seemed, but he was still worried about his condition and what lengths Donnie might go to fix him up. Fearless assured him that it was okay, and he had nothing to worry about. Just that he should get some rest and make sure he’ll be strong enough for when the arm is finished.

* * *

 

Tiger Claw came to visit Mikey a few times as well, usually when no one else was around. But it was in his latest visit that he saw something… something he hasn’t in a long time. And even then it was just in a mirror.

“Just because you have lost a part of yourself, does not mean life is over,” he had spoken then, getting the turtle’s attention.

“When I lost my tail, I never imagined I could fight again. But I did. I learned new ways, better ways. It is not over, Michelangelo,” he gently set a paw on his left shoulder, keeping eye contact with the youngest.

“…Did it hurt?” came a weak question.

“At first, yes. The memories were still fresh. But it gives you something to fight towards. To make sure this… disability does not define you – that you survive past it, and show it you are stronger than it.”

“…So, it can be done?” there was a spark of hope in those blue eyes.

“Yes. But it will take hard work, lots of training and time,” he wanted to make sure the ninja understood what he meant.

“I’ll take any chance I can,” and that spark turned into fire, as Tiger Claw gave a smile, squeezing the shoulder just a bit more.

“And you’ll have your brothers and me along the whole ride. You need not do it alone, as I did. And when you are done, you shall be much stronger for it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, first one down. I'm posting this on FanFiction (or FF whatever you prefer) as well, and on my Tumblr blog 'shadow-is-upon-us' so if you want, you can follow, comment and share there as well.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and if you did, do review! I always love to hear what the readers think =D


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